New Life
by SherlockedinStohess
Summary: Lyra Valaryous is a Lycan that moves to the small town of Guiden, CA. There she meets a fellow Goth, mysterious loner, and a football player she could just kill. Balancing them, her secret life and surfacing human emotions is harder than she thought.
1. Guiden

_**INTRO: **_Hello story wanderers! this is my second romance/supernatural T story and i know that i put it in the Underworld category, duh, but it has no OC's and the actual creatures themselves are slightly different. I just made most of this up, but it is still an underworld fanfic. So please enjoy and review, reviews really are super helpful for beginner writers like me. This story will switch in between 2 main character POV's.

Rated T for swearing, violence and other stuff later on. But I'll get to that in the later chapters :D

_**SUMMARY: **_a classic introduction chapter to the story, it introduces most of the characters and right away shows what the main character and most of the others are creature-wise; no dilly dally stuff. No real plot here.

_**DISCLAIMER: **_I DON'T OWN UNDERWORLD IN ANYWAY THATS ALL MOVIE COMPANY STUFF (BUT I DO WISH I DID, HENCE THE FANFIC XD)

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"I told you you're going the wrong way!"

"No I'm not!"

"Then where is he if we're in the right place, huh?"

Two boys and a young girl stood arguing in a dark alley way. The girl had long, curly silver hair that shone in the bright half-moon and was dressed more like a biker then the 16 year old she was. The other two were wearing normal clothes, one in a school uniform and the other in a suave looking suit.

"I don't know! I followed the map that Evain printed out!"

"Let me see it." The girl said, holding her hand out.

"Let me take a look first." The boy in the uniform said. He yanked the map from the blonde's hands and looked at it. "You were looking at it wrong moron, if this alley is where we are supposed to be, we would be on that building over there. Nice going!" he exclaimed sarcastically, pointing to a high rise 3 blocks over.

"Let me see that again…" the older boy grumbled. He tried to snatch the piece of paper back but the younger boy held on. Pretty soon they were hitting each other and yelling.

"Shut the hell up you idiots or you'll wake up the whole town! We have a job to do remember?" the girl chided, pulling them apart. "God, even vampire guys won't ask for freaking directions when they need it!"

Lyra studied the map for about 2 seconds before sighing in exasperation and palming her forehead.

"Neither of you are right! We're supposed to be on the opposite side of town!"

"Oh…" both of the boys said breathily, flinching when their female partner gave them her special death glare. Hopefully she wouldn't shot them in the foot like last time she got angry.

"Come on then, we better go before those _other _idiots get away." She retorted scathingly.

They all piled into the blonde man's shiny silver car, Lyra shoving him out of the driver seat so she could punch the gas pedal. They sped around a corner and drove down Main Street until they were on the opposite side of the town Augusta, Maine. Lyra made one last turn and almost hit a towering figure who had been running down the alleyway.

"There!" Lyra shouted and flew out of the car, pinning the man to the wall all in a second. But there were more of them and they quickly pulled her off. By then Jalis and Alex were at her sides, Jalis pulling out his gun and Alex wielding his fangs already. Figures.

As Jalis and Alex engaged the 4 other vampires in a fight, Lyra stood glaring at the leader.

"It's done Rocco, Kim is dead and so is Paul." He flinched at the sound of his mate and brother's names. "You know if you hadn't been so stupid and careless back in Boston they would be alive and you wouldn't have a death sentence." She smiled then, flashing her white teeth.

"Enough! You're a dead woman, and so are your friends!" he screeched and threw himself at the girl. She easily deflected his fists and when he was preparing to hit her again, she spun around and hit him with a tornado kick on his back, knocking him to the ground.

He got back up and grabbed a piece of wood and aimed for her heart. She dodged again and twisted his arm around from the side so he stabbed himself in the stomach, drawing blood. He ripped it out with a hiss and threw to piece of reddened wood off to the side, clutching his wound.

"You're going to pay for that!" a shot rang out and Lyra turned for 1 second to see that Jalis had shot and killed one of the vampires with the special bullets Lyra had made and Alex was working on his. When she turned back to her attacker, her face was met with a metal trash can. She fell to the ground.

"Lyra!" Jalis cried, but was quickly silenced when a 2nd vampire flung himself at the boy, as Alex was struggling with his 1st. The man was just not a fighter, even if he was a vampire.

The giant and wounded vampire threw the trashcan to the side, smiling and baring his fangs in a victory growl. But before he could even so much as take half a breath, Lyra was on her feet, facing him in a blur.

"You really shouldn't have done that." She hissed. Her irises and pupils turned a solid steely gray-bluish color and her canines and premolars grew to almost an inch long. Before even the vampire's quickened mind could comprehend what was happening, he had a wooden stake through his heart and the other 2 remaining vampires were dead as well, their heads rolling down the slope of the alleyway.

Lyra stood there with her back to the other two, her hands covered in blood.

"…Lyra?" Alex asked warily, slowing walking towards her with his hand held out as if to ward her off.

"I'm alright." She growled. "I just wish some things weren't so easy and boring." She turned around and her mouth and eyes were back to normal, but she had a scowl on her face. "Come on, let's call the cleaners and get out of here. Their blood is making me twitchy."

Without another word to the two astonished men, she hoped in the car and they drove off back to Hoften Law Firm.

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Lyra's mouth fell open. This could not be happening.

"We're being what?"

"You're being relocated to Guiden, California with our new firm there." Alex explained calmly. "We have found a lovely old mansion for you to stay in and there is a school nearby that you can attend for something to do."

"Yes because a dusty old mansion and annoying ass little humans are going to make everything all better! I just got her 3 years ago Alex! That's the longest amount of time I have ever lived in the exact same house without having to move for some stupid reason like this. I want to stay here, I like the country!" she scowled. "And since when do you have control over when I move and where I move to?"

"I'm sorry but you offered to do whatever you could for this company and we now have a firm in every major city in the US, Los Angeles was the last mark. You'll be living in a small town near the firm and some forests and all of that nature stuff you like so it won't be so different. Plus Jalis will be asking you today as well, so I know you'll say yes." He replied smoothly, a cheeky grin on his face.

Lyra just stood there fuming, not being able to find words. So she stomped out of Alex Hoften's office and headed home.

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The flight to Los Angeles was long and boring, Lyra not finding the enthusiasm to listen to her sister Serena's inane prattling about how happy they would be because they were now 'on a new adventure'. Curse her never ending optimism. Usually Lyra was more hyper and friendly then she was now. Heck, usually she was the one who needed to be told to shut up. But she was just too depressed at the turn of recent events. She was glad that she decided to help out Jalis's friend Alex when he asked her. She would do anything for the kid. But sometimes she really hated Alex's guts.

Alex was the head of Hoften Law Firm and the actual founder, despite the fact he tells people that it was his grandfather and he inherited it. He couldn't exactly tell everyone he was a 170 year old vampire who had nothing better to do then make money and get the human girls.

And now that immature, weak bastard was taking away something she actually really liked and putting it far away. If she didn't love Jalis so much, there was no way any of this would have gone down.

"Ladies and gentleman we will soon be arriving at Los Angeles so please take the next five minutes to fasten your seatbelts, put up all tables and gather you belongings. Thank you for flying Chicago Airlines." The hostess announced. They had had to take 2 airplanes, one from Augusta to Chicago, the other from Chicago to Los Angeles.

When they were finally allowed to disembark the huge jet, the Goth girl went straight for her bags and then for some food. God, she was starving.

"Geez Lyra, can't you wait until we actually get to the house to start stuffing your face?" Serena, her preppy and optimist sister, accused. She tossed her dark brown curls behind her shoulder, crossing her arms and slanting her hips.

"Yeah and wait for at least another hour? Sure." She said sarcastically, feeling slightly better now that she was off that stupid plane and about to have some food in her stomach. The bacon hamburger with fries that she got looked way more than appetizing right now.

"Serena give the girl a break, she didn't eat anything before we left. In fact I'm a little hungry myself. Come on, let's go get something." Evain persuaded her sister, grabbing her hand and half dragging her to the food court. Lyra smirked after them. Leave it Evain to _make_ someone eat food. She was like a little old granny sometimes.

As Lyra dug into her burger and fries ravenously, a scrawny boy with messy brown hair came and sat next to her at the table she was at in the corner.

"Hey Jalis, you found us!" she cheered.

"Ha ha." He retorted half-heartedly, used to her teasing by now. Even though Jalis was a vampire, he was still directionally challenged, something Lyra especially loved to tease him about. She saw him eyeing her burger.

"Want some?" she offered, holding out the burger to him. He took it without a word and bit off a huge bite. "Having you been feeding yourself lately?" she asked, half teasing but half concerned.

"Alex told me I can be stronger if I start to 'wean myself off of silly human food'." He explained with little air quotes around his mouthful. "I mean, I'm not exactly the strongest vampire ever." He said sadly, his face drooping.

"Come on _mishonak_, just because some people are stronger then you doesn't mean you don't have your expertise. Sure, a lot of vampires are strong, but that's it. You have brains and you're stronger than a lot of vampires you meet because of your age."

"Yeah, but according to Alex and these tests he gave me I'm not as strong as I should be for my age. And stop calling me _mishonak_, it doesn't help! I'm not a freaking' mouse!" he complained. It wouldn't be the first time either. For some reason, Lyra loved giving people animal nicknames in Russian, and whenever she saw Jalis eat (like now), he just reminded her of a mouse.

"Whoa, save some of it for me!" she said, taking the burger, or what was left of it, away from Jalis's clutches. The kid was like a vacuum.

"Sorry." He said sheepishly.

"Here, go get one for yourself." She said, handing him some money. "And don't listen to Alex; what you do with yourself is none of his business. He's just jealous of you anyway." With a roll of his eyes, Jalis got up and hurried past the returning Serena and Evain to get his much desired burger.

"So he finally found us?" Serena smiled, sitting down across the table with her sister and the mound of pasta they had bought.

"Yeah, but give him a break today, Alex has been getting to him again."

"Again? When will that guy learn to keep his nose where it belongs before I break it?" the brunette hissed.

"Probably never." Evain chimed in, picking up a fork and taking a bite of the pasta her and her sister were sharing.

"True. I don't get why he even listens to that guy. Seriously, here we are all the way across the country for the man and he decides to start criticizing his best friend."

"Well, I know that I'll never understand the relationship those two have. Half the time Jalis is looking at him with glazed eyes or he's bitching about how unfair he is. I seriously think that kid is bipolar. Or that he has a multiple personality disorder." Lyra mused.

Just then, Jalis returned with the same meal Lyra got and immediately had devoured half the burger in a minute.

"Slow down there kid or you'll choke to death." Serena teased, receiving a not-so-amused glance from the starving vampire.

"Shut up. And stop calling me kid, I was older then you when I was turned." He said, shoving a heap of French fries into his mouth.

"It's either kid or honey, you choose." She countered. He gave her an unbelieving glance which was met with 3 sing song laughs.

"Whatever. I'm so happy that I can still eat as a vampire. Think of all the good stuff I would have missed if we couldn't! Hamburgers, French fries, soda, ice cream, frozen pizza…" he went off listing all of his favorite foods, much to everybody else's amusement.

Lyra had finished her own meal a few minutes ago and drained her soda even earlier. She looked at her watch. It was 3:30pm; their flight having been almost 8 hours long. She sighed. All of their things from Augusta had been flown over here on another plane, courtesy of Alex. It should be waiting at their house by now in some moving trucks.

"We should probably go; its 3:30 and the movers should have dropped the trucks off by now." She stood up and brushed off her dark red miniskirt, getting rid of any crumbs. She collected her 'siblings' trays and put them on the rack where they were supposed to go.

And sure enough, the movers had already been there and the trucks filled with their belongings were sitting idly in the long drive way. All of them gasped aloud. Alex hadn't been kidding when he said he had gotten them a mansion.

The place had 3 stories, giant pillars that held up the roof in front of the front door and a wrap-around porch on the 1st floor. It was painted a dark red and had black shingles on the roof and the window frames were painted black too. Huge iron gates guarded the entrance to the driveway, the chains undone and a key hanging on a string off the lock.

Lyra got out of the driver's side of her new car that had been waiting for them at the airport, another gift from Alex. She walked up to the thick chains and unwound them from the metal bars and dropped them by one of the pillars that connected to the fence. Grabbing the key, she got back in the car and suppressed a smile at the shocked faces of the 3 others in the car.

She drove past the gates to see that there was even a little pond in the front yard with a huge overhanging willow next to it that shaded a bench.

"Who does he think we are, royalty?" Jalis wondered aloud.

"Well, maybe he felt bad for moving us so suddenly for no particular reason." Lyra commented, unable to keep the bitterness from leaking into her voice.

"Who cares how he felt, look at this place! It looks like it was built in 18th century Romania or something!" Serena chirped. Lyra couldn't tell if she was excited or upset at the state of the place. Leave it to Serena to find something wrong with a giant 3-story mansion. But it did look kind of medieval.

"Well at least we'll have room for all of your junk now Serena." Evain said cheerfully.

Lyra jumped out of the car and ran up to the front door, anxious to see the inside of the place. This was definitely her element.

She took the key from the gates out of her pocket. It was old fashioned, just like the house. The actual key part had 3 little bars sticking out of it, one shaped like a pentagon. The opposite end had intricate little swirls inside a band of a cloud-like circle. Awesome.

She inserted the key into the look and turned, hearing the squeal of protest the old looks made.

Opening the heavy double doors, she looked around the very open front room. Off to her left was the kitchen, complete with a bar for a table and an island with a stove. Despite the age of the house, all of the appliances looked brand new, and were furnished to match the dark woods of the rest of the house.

To her right were 2 grand staircases that converged at the top and lead to the other floors. She could see a door tucked away in between them that was sided by two little chests with empty vases on them. That probably led to the basement.

Lyra ran back out to her siblings were still either getting out of the car or gawking at the house.

"Come on you guys, what are you waiting for? The place is awesome!"

"Yeah, I could get used to this place." Jalis said in awe, his mouth hanging open slightly like a child's.

"I call the tower!" Lyra claimed, pointing to the tower up in the far right corner of the house. It stood out rather noticeably and looked kind of small, just the kind of place she preferred. Being agoraphobic had its perks.

"Aw, come on! Why do you always get the best room?" Evain cried. Her green eyes echoed her pouting face.

"Well I'm sure the other rooms are bigger. Hold on." She flashed in and out of the house quickly, coming back with the manila folder she had seen on the kitchen bar. "OK, it says here that there are 7 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, so we should each be able to have our own bathroom. And Evain, I'm sure the other rooms are bigger. The tower is supposed to be a storage room, it's not even included in the bedroom listing, so you all have 7 rooms to pick from."

"Fine with me!" Serena cheered, running into the house full speed with Jalis and Evain not far behind her.

Shaking her head with a small amused smile, she headed in herself. She walked up the stairs and (after much searching) finally found her way to the tower she had claimed, which had been tucked away up a staircase. She opened the door and gasped.

The room really was handkerchief sized. It had double glass sliding doors that lead out to a small balcony on the farthest end of the small room. The room itself was about 9 feet wide and 10 feet long, just her size. There was a small closet on the right of the side of the door, next to a giant chest that reached the floor and almost the ceiling.

She walked over and opened the closet, seeing just enough room for her dresses and skirts to be hung up. There was enough room on the floor for all of her boots and heels if she were to double line them and the shelf on the top gave her enough room to store all of her little knickknacks she collected from wherever she went. The chest was more of a desk; there was a door on half of it and another that pulled out halfway. Like the ones at Ikea.

She practically bounced with excitement when she saw that there was enough room on either side of the door for two of her 5 or so book shelves.

"So how do you like your room?" Jalis asked, opening the door. "Wow, do you think you can fit your computer desk and all of your bookshelves in here? It's so small…"

"Of course I can! If I can't fit all of my bookshelves on the walls I can just build a wrap-around shelf going along the perimeter." She exclaimed happily, pointing with her finger along the edges of the ceiling. She could already picture where she was going the put everything…architecture was one of her favorite subjects.

"Well you have fun with that. You should really come and see all of the other rooms first though because they all have a lot more room than this one."

"I hardly doubt I'm changing my mind now." She said with a happy smile and glazed over eyes.

"Geez Lyra, you look like an 8 year old in a candy store. It's just a room."

"Yes, but it's my room." She whispered as he walked out.

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After all 4 of them were done exploring the immense quarters of the house they went back out. It was almost 5:30; the drive from Los Angeles to Guiden had taken longer than expected. If they wanted to stay here tonight they should probably unpack at least their beds.

"Alright, Evain, Jalis and I will take our truck; Serena, you can take your two." She mocked.

"Shut up!" Serena yelled, swatting her shoulder. "I don't have two trucks! Maybe one and a half but not two…" she said unconvincingly.

"Sure." Lyra smirked, Evain covering her mouth to hide her own smile. Serena just scowled at them and proceeded to try to open up one of the trucks.

"I believe you'll be needing a key for that." Lyra ribbed, holding up a ringlet of small keys for the trucks and their back locks. She walked over roughly shoving the key in and yanking the sliding door open so they could the items inside. She kicked down the gridded ramp so they wouldn't have to jump every time they got in or out.

"Very ladylike." Serena accused scathingly. Lyra just shrugged in reply and did the same with the other two vehicles.

"Alright it looks like your stuff, or most of it, is in this one Serena." She said pointing to the far right one. "Evain it looks like your stuff and the rest of Serena's is in the middle one and Jalis' and mine is in the last one. We should get the mattresses out first; they should be against the sides." She instructed.

"Yeah, I see yours Lyra." Jalis said. He reached in and easily dragged it out and tossed it to her.

After they had gotten their mattresses inside the house and into their rooms, all of them collapsed on one of the plush leather sofas in the large front room.

"I can't wait until I can start to redecorate this place! All of these huge heavy curtains are so gone." Serena breathed tiredly.

"Why? They look fine; it keeps the air of age around here. Its' not like we're going to be having anybody over anyway." Lyra complained.

"How would you know? And besides, I'm not a Hot Topic maniac like _some_ people so I want them gone."

"Lyra's right, they do give it a certain charm. I think we should leave them there and just upgrade the carpet or something. It smells kind of musky in here." Evain said, wrinkling up her nose.

"Jalis what do you think?" Serena asked, turning only her slumped head in his direction. He pointed a finger at himself.

"Me? You're aware that I'm a guy right? I don't really care what the heck happens to the place as long as I can stay."

"True. Well whatever; it's a problem for another day. Let's go somewhere for something to eat. We should probably start to stock up at the grocery store tomorrow too. "

"Yeah I have to go to the hardware store tomorrow so I'll go grocery shopping then too. Just a basement made of wood won't be able to hold me under the full moon." She joked although she was serious.

"Good idea. I don't want my room ripped apart like last time you got out." Jalis said, shooting a wary glance at the girl, who just grinned wolfishly at him.

"Okay, so what are you guys in the mood for?" Lyra asked.

"I'm kind of hungry for Mexican." Jalis said.

"I don't really care." Evain declared, as usual.

"Maybe we should order a pizza or something. I'd love to see the delivery boys face when he saw the house." Lyra commented, grinning at the mental images.

"Yeah, and the Goth girl who answered the door!" Serena chimed. Lyra just smacked her arm.

"That would be funny. But I want to go out tonight. I'm tired from sitting in either an airplane or a car for 10 hours today." Jalis sniffed.

"Fine." Lyra huffed, disappointed.

"Maybe we'll meet some nice people Lyra. We should get to know this town. Alex said that since it's pretty much the only shady part in California, lots of vampires come around. We should probably know where to go if they do. Not to mention that the place is covered with trees so demons could hang around too." Evain piped in, casually twirling her short and wavy blonde hair around her finger, despite her serious words.

"Sure. I think I might stay in tonight though. I want to get my room set up and I should probably look at the schools website." The girl said glumly. "Plus I'm tired from sitting around all day."

"…You're tired from sitting?" Serena asked, a skeptical look on her face.

"You got a problem with it?" she challenged. Serena raised her hands in a defensive position.

"Wait, you're going to start school again?" Jalis asked.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about it. I don't want to work at the new firm with you guys but I don't want to sit around here all the time. It would get boring after a few days."

"How old are you going to be this time?"

"I'm thinking a junior. We're probably not going to be here longer than a few years anyway."

Silence filled the room at her comment, everybody besides Lyra shifting uncomfortably. Then to his extreme embarrassment, Jalis's stomach growled. Everybody laughed when his face turned red.

"Well we better go before Jalis expires." Jalis shot Serena a dry look that was received with a smile.

"Okay, see you later." Lyra said, not moving from her spot of the couch arm. When the door was closed and she could no longer hear the car, she let out an exasperated sigh.

"_Well, here goes nothing."_ She thought, heading up to her room to look at the school's website on her laptop.

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Finally the end of chapter 1! This little inserts i have before and after the chapter will be here every time...except if i forget...but then i will fix it ASAP! :D so please read them, there is a reason they are there and they usually can contain vital info you little readers need! :D

So, tell me what you think and please please, please review; a lot of people think that just hitting or visiting someone's story is review enough but i don't want to be posting a long story like the two i have going just for nobody to tell me what they think; i am your humble student, page wanderers so please tell me anything you think or feel towards this story! :D

-cally (^o^)

_**P.S-** _For all you Twilight lovers out there, I've recently started writing an EdwardxOC fanfic, so if you're interested check it out on my profile! :D Warning: Not for EdwardxBella lovers


	2. New Arrival

_**CHAPTER 2: NEW ARRIVAL**_

Hi readers. Okay so I was typing chapter 7 last night and I realized that my chapters are kind of super long for a fanfic chapter but they just look short on MW. So the next few chapters are kind of long so just bare with me until ch. 7 and I promise they won't be so long! :D

In this chapter Lyra has her first day of school and some more characters get introduced along with maybe a teensy bit of plot. Enjoy!

* * *

Pounding, beeping, pounding, and prodding. Buzzing noises filled Lyra's head and eventually she could make them out clearly: someone yelling at her and an alarm clock beeping.

She pried her sleepy eyes open to see dark brown curls and annoyed blue-gray eyes. Serena.

"If this is how you're going to be every morning, then you're so going to fail high school." The brunette charged.

"Eh…" was her reply.

"Get up lazy, its 6:30, you have to get ready for school now since your biking there."

That's right, it was Tuesday, September 7th. The first day of the school year, since Labor Day had been on a Monday. It had been exactly 2 weeks since they had moved to Guiden, California. With Serena listed as her 'parental guardian', a week after they had moved in Lyra had officially been labeled a student and Mt. Guiden High School.

Dragging herself out of bed, she walked across the hall into her bathroom. Looking in the mirror, she was surprised by her appearance.

Her hair was a total rat's nest, the curls entangled deeply in each other. She speculated the purple circles under her eyes; they had always been there after her transformation into a never-aging werewolf, but today they seemed like they were darker somehow. She must have had a restless night, usually she was more together then this.

Sighing, she picked up a brush and went through the process of untangling her chaotic hair, which took 5 minutes. She decided she would wear it up today, since it was supposed to be nice out, and put part of it up into a ponytail while the rest was nestled at the nape of her neck.

She returned to her room and stood in front of her closet. Her open laptop on her bed said that the temperature was supposed to be between 70 and 80 degrees so today would be a good day for a skirt or dress.

Deciding on a short sleeve, black, thigh length dress with lace trimming, she pulled on some black and white stockings with her signature calf high climber boots. Pulling on her daily bangles and bracelets she pondered whether or not to wear gloves. Looking at her clock that read 7:00 she quickly grabbed some black mesh gloves that hooked around her middle finger and went ¾ of the way up her arm.

Grabbing her bag she ran down the stairs and twirled around for Jalis to see.

"Well? How do I look?" she asked.

"Awesome, as usual. Though I don't think in a pastel town like this that there will be other people who dress like…that."

"Who cares. Anyway, is there any breakfast ready?" she asked, scavenging the kitchen already.

"Uh…should there be?" he questioned.

Lyra let out a half amused sigh at her brothers' cluelessness and kissed his forehead goodbye, him shoving her away with a playful whine.

"I'll see you after school." She yelled as she walked out the door. She grabbed the handles of her new purple bike and rid down the sidewalk to the school that was a mile away.

* * *

Lyra had always thought that kids these days were just exaggerating when it came down to the horrors and boredom of school. They were always complaining about pointless homework, stupid tests that they had to study for and most of all the awful food. But when she arrived at the Building that was behind the sign that read **Mt. Guiden High School**, she thought she might agree with them.

Already she had an awful feeling that she would regret signing up.

The building was 2 stories tall and looked more like a state security prison then a learning center. Tall windows that were a foot wide stretched from nearly the ground to the ceiling, being separated by strange pillars that jutted out and were attached to the wall. There were 3 separate little gardens in the main square that looked rather pitiful, being trampled by tired teachers and late students over the years.

Students hung around everywhere: sitting on the three and half foot walls surrounding the dead gardens, loading off the few buses that were in the parking lot, clustered up into their click groups. Few were actually heading inside the school. But with only about 700 something students, Lyra figured that most of the student population was outside, enjoying the freedom the morning brought.

Lyra locked her bike to the most unused bike rack on the side of the building and slipped in through the side door. Even though most of the pupils seemed to be outside, there were still some lone students and teachers milling around and they all gave her curious stares. Yep, definitely the only Goth here.

Finally making her way to the front of the school, she found the front office and took a deep breath. She pulled the door open and walked up to the desk lady and waited for her to get off the phone. When the blond woman finally looked up at her, Lyra noticed with great amusement how much her blue eyes widened.

"Hi, I'm Lyra Valaryous a new student. I just signed up a few weeks ago and I was told I was supposed to come to get my schedule stuff." She explained. The woman didn't move or say anything. Lyra lifted an eyebrow in annoyance. She wasn't that much of an eyesore. "Did you hear me? I need my schedule." She repeated.

"Oh, yes…sorry." The woman stuttered, looking over her outfit in disapproval. "One minute. What was your name again?"

"Valaryous." She spelled it out for the woman when she looked at her again, even though Lyra knew she was looking at _her _not questioning her name.

"Alright here you are. Maps are over there if you need one, since you probably didn't come to conferences." She admonished and pointed to a pile on colorful papers on a table. Grabbing anything she though she might need, she looked at her schedule and found her way to her locker, #402. Luckily it was on the corner and not squished in between others.

Lyra emptied out her backpack and grabbed her things for her first hour AP Trigonometry class. Just as she turned around to find room 229, she bumped into someone.

"Excuse me." She muttered. She never saw the point in apologizing for things she wasn't really sorry for, like most Americans did out of bad habit.

"Well, what do we have here boys, a new arrival?" an attractive male voice said. Lyra looked up and met with a pair of mud brown eyes.

The boy in front of her wasn't really a boy. His hair reached down to his muscular shoulders in gentle brown waves that matched the color of his eyes. His face was well structured and angular in a handsome way. His immense height and good build definitely classified him as some sort of athlete.

"Yeah I'm new." She replied after her half second of speculation. Nothing a human would notice.

"I figured. I'm Erin Somer, head of the football team. These are some others." He said, gesturing to the five other boys around him. "What's your name? I would have remembered a face like yours." He waggled his eyebrows flirtingly.

"Lyra. I just got here a month ago." She said. Then to the boy's surprise she turned away and walked down the hall away from him.

"Hey wait up!" he yelled and jogged to keep up with her. "I just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood."

"Thanks but I have to get to class." She dismissed. She didn't particularly like this boy.

"But we just met! Hey, tell you what; I'll show you around the school before class. We still have 15 or 20 minutes to spare. What do you say?" she could tell he already had his preppy boy eyes set on getting the new girl.

"I have a map; I think I can find my way."

"OK, your choice. Hope I see you around Gothic Girl." He teased and walked away back to his little group of puppy dog followers. Lyra just rolled her eyes. All the sheep like human boys were going to drive her insane.

Even though only 3 of the 5 periods Lyra had in school had passed, she could actually relate to what kids were complaining about. The teachers babbled on and on nonstop about junk they really wouldn't need, even though pretty much every room had a poster in it that has lists of jobs that would need that certain subject. They were assigned ridiculous amounts of homework for tiny little units that were 3 pages long in their books.

But now Lyra would have to face the biggest horror in school, something even the teachers feared with their lives perhaps. School food.

Reluctantly, Lyra stepped in line for the main dish, which was supposed to be chicken in gravy. The slop they poured on her tray looked more like somebody else had gotten sick from chicken in gravy, instead of what it was actually supposed to be. She grabbed a cookie just in case it was really as awful as it looked.

Sitting down at an abandoned round table for eight in the corner, she scrapped off the disgusting chicken in gravy so could get at just the potatoes. They weren't half bad; a little dry maybe but nothing some butter couldn't fix. She finished off her potatoes, milk and cookie and dumped her tray.

Once again, more students seemed to be in the locker area then the actual cafeteria. It looked like many of them hadn't eaten or were eating something from home. Smart people.

"I knew I would see you again." Lyra turned around and was staring into the chest of Erin Somer, the football player she had met earlier. Dang he was tall.

"Oh, hi. You have this lunch?" she asked.

"Yeah. So how are you liking my school? Are your classes boring yet?"

"I'm starting to wish my sister had signed me up for homeschooling instead. I thought kids were exaggerating how awful public schools were. Man, was I wrong."

"Get used to it. We have 9 more months of this crap." He laughed and Lyra joined in. Just because he was a jock doesn't mean he was necessarily a jerk right? He looked over her shoulder and suddenly his eyes lit up, an almost evil grin spreading across his face. "Hey I want you to meet someone."

He pulled her over to a short, stout boy with glasses and spiky red hair.

"Hey bud, how's it goin'?" he asked the small kid, slinging a massive arm around tiny shoulders. "You still geeking out to Jeff Corwin these days?" Erin asked, laughing loudly.

"No…" the boy whispered. He almost looked afraid. Then it hit her: he was afraid of Erin. He was the nerd who got picked on by the jock.

"I'm glad to see that you've matured. What are you on now, Bill Nye?" more jocks came over and started laughing. The boy started to cower into himself. "This is the new girl Lyra. She's pretty isn't she?" he asked, much to Lyra's embarrassment. She hardly new the guy and he was already acting pompous.

The boy looked up at her and she could see him more clearly. He had light brown eyes behind his square glasses; they had the look of a wounded animal to them. He had lightly tanned skin with a dusting of freckles across the bridge of his nose. Those freckles soon became hardly visible when a blush colored his face.

"Hey, Spiky here has a crush on the Goth girl!" a burly guy next to Erin laughed.

"Is that true Spiky? You know you can tell me anything." Erin said with fake concern.

"I…no…I just…" he stuttered, his voice fading with each word. Suddenly Erin let go of him and pushed him against the wall, laughing when he stumbled.

"Hey!" Lyra shouted. "What do you think you're doing? He's just a kid!" she rushed over and helped the poor kid up. To her disdain, he looked like he was used to the bullying.

"So? He's a nerd. A nobody loser nerd." He snickered with his friends.

"Seriously? 'Nobody loser nerd'? Grow up." She snapped, stepping in front of the boy protectively. Must be a strong for the weak thing. She was a predator after all.

"…What? You're seriously going to protect this freak? He's weirder then you!" he accused.

"What, just because he's actually smart and doesn't have skin the color of an Oompa Loompa?" she jibbed. He looked infuriated that this new stranger was talking to him like this. He was obviously a rich and spoiled nimrod who cared more about his own appearance then his friends. And now those friends were silent, looking back and forth in between her and him.

"I never should have wasted my time with you; town gossip was right you are a freak." He snarled and stalked away, hunching his shoulders involuntarily as some people snickered as he went by. He just got owned by the new Goth girl.

Lyra turned and glared at his friends and nodded her head in the direction of their comrade, indicating for them to scat. She could feel her teeth start to lengthen and the sooner they were gone, the less chance she had of showing them the real Gothic girl she was.

"Are you okay? It looked like the wall smacked you pretty good." To her surprise the boy giggled. He actually _giggled._ "What?" She asked warily.

"I thought this kind of stuff only happened in movies and books. Girls saving boys and people actually using personifications in their sentences." She gave him a strange look. No wonder he was picked on.

"Well obviously you thought wrong. What's your name kid?"

"Steve, Steve Moore. Thanks for doing that, I get sick of having to deal with those guys." He said, blushing again.

"Steven? What happened?" a girl behind him said with a thick European accent.

Lyra's mouth almost dropped open.

The girl was gorgeous. She was lean and skinny, her perfect legs sheathed in black tights under a jean skirt. She wore a dark blue blouse and black ankle boots that were at least 3 inches high. Her black her was tucked up into a small bun in the center on the back of her head, little curly tendrils hanging on either side of her face. Her grey eyes peered out from under long baby doll eyelashes surrounded by perfectly tanned skin.

"Oh hey Kida. Yeah, Erin was just being a jerk again. This is Lyra, the new girl. She just totally owned Erin!" he laughed.

"I'm glad someone finally had the courage to." She half whispered, her voice light and gentle. "I'm Kida Kovnatzky, Steven's friend." She added, offering her hand. Lyra shook it politely.

"So what's up with the prick? What's he got with you?" Lyra asked, turning back to Steve.

"I think he's just naturally a jerk. He does that to other people too, I just seem to be his favorite lately."

"Oh…" she trailed off, not really sure what to say. Before the silence could get very awkward, Kida spoke.

"Well, there's only a minute until we can start heading to 4th hour so I better go. It was nice meeting you Lyra, we should sit together at lunch tomorrow. Let's go Steve." Grabbing Steve's hand, she pulled him towards the doors. He hung on for dear life. They were pretty cute together. She smirked in their direction and then at Erin Somer, who was staring at her from across the room. She waggled her eyebrows at him like he had done to her that morning and walked off to 4th hour.

* * *

"So is it as bad I remember it to be?" Jalis asked when Lyra collapsed on the couch. It had only been the first day and already she was wishing she hadn't considered going to school.

"Oh my God its worse! The teachers are so annoying and they talk forever! Most of the students aren't that bad, although already today I had to stop the head football player from crushing some poor 10th grader." she grinned at the thought of her new young friend. "And from now on I'm going to bring lunch from home, I thought I was going to puke when I saw the food." She grimaced.

"Well to be able to do that, you'll need to go to the store. Last time we just got the essentials and that was 2 weeks ago."

"Right. Well I should probably start building my cell too, the full moon is in a week. I minus well go to the grocery store if I'm going to the hardware store."

"Okay. Here's some money." He said, handing her an envelope. She looked inside and gasped. There had to be at least two thousand bucks in it.

"Whoa, where did all this come from?" she asked, looking up at him curiously.

"It's some of the money from the job Alex had us do. I still owe you for paying for my car repairs when I was out of cash. That's two thousand dollars from my share so we're even now. He put your share in your bank account."

"Oh…okay. Thanks. I'll probably be gone for a while so tell Serena and Evain if they get home before me. Serena has been bugging me for the past few days to 'get my lazy ass up and build the damn cell so her room is safe'." She mimicked her sister, snickering.

"Sounds like Serena. But make sure to get some good stuff. Seriously Lyra, its hard enough when we have to hear you howling and trying to claw your way out, we don't need you actually getting out." He said solemnly. She knew how hard it was for him especially to see her when she had no control over her werewolf instincts.

"Yeah yeah." She said jokingly, trying to lighten the suddenly depressing mood. She kissed his forehead as was her habit and walked out the door. This time she took Jalis's green Toyota pick up. She would need the truck space.

Never had she thought picking out food was so difficult! She had stopped at the hardware store first and had easily picked out tons of metal bars with different thicknesses and toughness. Now that she was at the grocery store, she was facing a greater challenge.

In Augusta, the grocery store had been just that: a grocery store. Just the basics were there: toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning supplies and ingredients for recipes made from scratch with the occasional processed treat.

Here almost half the store was covered with candy bars or chip bags, and there were literally isles dedicated to soda and sweets. Lyra was the one who did all the cooking at home, seeing as nobody else knew besides Serena. But when she accidentally added a cup of salt into Jalis's birthday cake instead of a cup of sugar, they didn't exactly want to take any risks. So she knew what to look for but it seemed to be turning into an impossible feat.

Lyra was used to making meals from scratch, ranging from pasta noodles to pizza to soup. She knew from living in Boston before living in Augusta that a lot of food companies made billions of dollars each year by pumping their items full of unpronounceable chemicals and freezing things. That seemed to be all that they had here.

After searching for an hour, she finally managed to scrounge up different meats, flour, sugar, vanilla, breadcrumbs, milk, butter and other basic ingredients that could go in anything. She checked out her purchases and started to load them up into the cab of the truck.

Once she had successfully slammed the metal shopping cart into the return rack, she started the car and looked at the clock. It was 4:15. Serena and Evain should be back now from their new home. Serena had decided she didn't like the mansion so she rented a fancy apartment and dragged a kicking Evain to live with her, despite the complaints.

Smiling to herself, Lyra started the truck and chugged off towards her new home as it started to rain.

* * *

K, so tell me what you think about it as I see that this story got a lot of hits on its first day out so I hope everybody is enjoying my work! :D comment, review, or PM me! :D chapter 3 will be coming out in 3-5 days it depends when I'm free to upload it!

-cally (^o^)


	3. Curiosity

Hey, it's a new character POV! :D ok so this chapter is from Jason Kell's point of view, he's the other main character. Not sure if I introduced him already…anyways from now on I will try my best to switch evenly between Lyra and Jason, although I just noticed yesterday as I was typing a later chapter that I wrote 4 from Lyra's POV and then 1 from Jason's…so I'll work on that! :D enjoy! :D

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN UNDERWORLD, AS MUCH AS I WOULD LOVE TO. I'M NOT SMART ENOUGH TO THINK UP THE STUFF THEY PUT IN THEIR MOVIE; I WOULD GET TO LOST. SO THE BRAINIACS THAT DID MAKE IT UP, THAT MOVIE IS THOUROUGHLY YOURS, NOT MINE! **

* * *

Jason Kell opened his eyes to the dim early light of a Wednesday morning. He lay on his full sized bed, not particularly wanting to get up. It was the 2nd day of school today, which was usually worst then the 1st. Curse his never aging body, now he could always pass as a student.

Groaning, he got up slowly. He had to get dressed and sine he had to give Yuna a ride to school he couldn't dally like he wanted. He was a walking zombie as he went downstairs and turned on their new coffee machine, pouring in some grains and pressing the green START button.

Trudging back upstairs, he gathered a copper long sleeve cotton shirt and some blue cargo jeans, heading towards the bathroom. He took a quick shower to get the sleep out of his eyes and head before stepping out and getting dressed. He ran a brush through his hair and stared at himself in the mirror through his long ear-length bangs.

Bright blue eyes stared back at him. That had always been his most noticeable feature. His adoptive mother Lilith who lay sleeping down the hall had always admired them, commenting weekly on how 'beautiful' and 'defining' they were. Whatever.

With a shake of his head, he thumped downstairs, drained a cup of coffee and got out 2 thermoses to fill. He leaned up against the counter and crossed him arms, staying perfectly statue still for ten minutes until he could finally fill up the containers and leave.

Hoping on his bike, he pedaled down the road for a few minutes until he got to Yuna's house. Walking up the steps, he didn't even have to knock before an equally tired looking Japanese girl opened the door.

Yuna was in her usual Gothic garb: heavy eyeliner and lipstick, spiked bracelets, floor length jean skirt and ragged looking HIM t-shirt. Her raven dyed hair was pulled up into multiple ponytails with fake, colored hair clips in them. They both wore combat boots, though Jason's weren't insanely huge and clunky like hers. His just looked like army boots.

"Ohayou." He greeted. They usually spoke in Japanese when it was just the two of them.

All she did was nod, turn around to yell at her bustling (and also adoptive) parents in the kitchen that she was leaving and take her steaming thermos of coffee from him.

Without a word, they both hoped onto Jason's bike and rode off towards school, though how Yuna could balance her 3 inch platform boots on skinny rods was beyond him. She was one of the clumsiest people he had ever met.

School was the exact same as it had been yesterday and the year before. The gardens were dead, students were milling around and backpacks were strewn on the lawn. They disembarked and walked over to the side of the school to a bike rack, where a new looking, shiny purple bike was also chained to.

Like their usual routine, Jason and Yuna walked into the cafeteria and sat down at the round table in the corner. It was a Focus day so the teachers had a half an hour meeting and the day started at 8:07 instead of 7:45. Jason took out a historical book on Egypt while Yuna took out her IPod and blasted her heavy metal music. She was listening to Korn today Jason noticed.

He had read about 5 pages when he saw a sight he really didn't want to: Erin Somer, head of the football team and ass of the year, was walking towards them with his lackeys.

"Hey Kell. Did you see the new addition to your freak club?" he asked. Jason just glared at him from under his bangs. Erin's heartbeat started to speed up, as a humans usually did when Jason stared at them like that. But he continued anyway. "It looks like we may have finally found you a girlfriend; she's as weird ass as you." Then he glanced at Yuna and added, "Or maybe she swings the other way and can be Bat Girl's mate instead. Would you like that freak?" Erin asked, bending down so he was eye level with the petite girl.

So fast that nobody saw, Jason was on his feet and Erin was sprawled on his back on the ground.

"Like to say that again _vlaka_?" he hissed, towering over the jock on the floor with his arms crossed. He knew he was intimidating even thought he was about 2 inches shorter then Erin's 6'2", but he was more filled out for a person of his height.

Erin lurched to his feet, his fists balled up.

"Your going to pay for that Monster Boy!" he ran towards Jason, who just stepped aside so Erin crashed into him and Yuna's table.

"Sorry." Jason said, smiling when Yuna just shot him a quick glare from the jostled table. He turned his attention back to Erin, who was righting himself and turning around to charge again.

"Hey! Stop it right now!" Mr. Harris, the principal/football coach, came over and stepped in front of Erin to stop him from charging again. He turned to stare at Jason with disapproval. "I'll be seeing you after school!" Jason just shrugged, indifferent. The principal was like an old friend by now with how many times he had to sit in the man's drab office.

He returned to his seat next to Yuna and picked up his book that had fallen on the floor when Erin had slammed into the table from his dodge. Just when he had started to read again, he peeked over the top of his book and saw a girl looking at him.

The thing that caught his attention was how still she was. She was just standing there at the top of the steps that led into the cafeteria, her arms crossed and hips slanted to one side. Staring at him with a look that seemed more like…pride?...then the wary glances he was getting from the rest of the students.

She had silver curly hair that probably went almost to the small of her back, but was pulled into a ponytail. Her eyes were dark and piercing but he couldn't tell what color they were supposed to be; they looked like they were violet. Well, it was possible.

Her clothes also drew his attention. Her style was some what like Yuna's; dark jean mini skirt, black long sleeve shirt with vibrant blues and purples underneath a rib length sleeveless leather vest. White and black striped knee-highs poked out from her volatile combat boots.

When she saw him looking at her, she smiled a dazzlingly white smile and winked at him, to Jason's surprise. Then she turned and walked away towards the lockers. The surprise must have shown on his face, because Yuna asked him what was wrong.

"Nothing."

"So nothing caused you to blush?" Jason reached up and poked her cheek, trying to get rid of the embarrassing red on his face. There were only a few things that could make him blush and he usually didn't notice when he did it.

"I think I just saw the new girl." He said, trying to distract his friend. For once Erin was being serious. She dresses a lot like you. She looks familiar too…"

"WHAT?" she shrieked. At first he thought that she was mad because someone else had her style, but then he saw the huge grin spread across her face. Then a disturbingly thoughtful and concentrated look went across her features. "Where? Where did she go?" she asked in her Japanese accent. She was practically shaking him now. Uh-oh.

"Towards the lockers." He replied nonchalantly. Suddenly she grabbed his arm and half dragged him out of the cafeteria, making them the subject of even more strange stares then usual. "Yuna, what the hell are you doing?"

"We have to find her!"

"Why?" that made her stop and turn on him with a serious look on her face.

"Are you kidding me? She's Goth!" she said, as if that explained everything. Which in her case it probably did.

"So?" he countered. "You've met Goth people before."

"Yeah, but this one goes to my school! Besides, she's the new girl, she probably doesn't have many friends anyway."

"Since when do you care whether or not somebody has friends? You hate newcomers." She just stood there and stared at him, crossing her arms. "Fine." He gave up with an exasperated sigh. It was no use fighting her when she was like this.

"Alrighty then." She smiled and tugged on his shirt for him to follow.

They combed through the crowds of people until the 2 minute bell rang and Jason convinced Yuna that she wasn't out there. Obviously put out, Jason told her that they could look at lunch and tomorrow morning. But they wouldn't have wait that long.

As they parted ways and dragged their caffeinated heads through 1st and 2nd hour, it seemed like forever until 3rd hour. Third hour was the best period, because it was the hour right before 4th hour, which was the class that they stopped and went to lunch 15 minutes in.

Yuna and Jason walked into their AP English class in a deep discussion about whether or not the football team or the cheerleaders sucked more at the games.

"…I was walking by the gym yesterday and saw them practicing for the game on Friday and one of them totally missed the hand net when they threw her up. It was hilarious." Jason was saying.

"Well, maybe we'll get lucky and Sabrina Qureshi will break her leg next time they practice so we don't have to listen to her god awful cheering. Its like she's trying to break mirrors or something!"

"Yuna! That so mean!" Jason scolded even though they both were laughing. Then Yuna stopped and just stared at the teacher's desk. Jason followed her gaze and realized why the new girl from the cafeteria had looked so familiar. It was because she was in their English class.

She was standing next to the teacher's desk, bent over the literature book he was showing her. Apparently they were arguing about one of the stories.

Jason could see her better now. She had multiple ear piercings and was wearing dangly skulls and roses from nearly all of them. She wore a leather choker necklace with an onyx stone on the front that matched her short vest along with leather fingerless gloves. The bold colored shirt said Cheshire cat on it with a picture underneath.

"Yuna come on, he'll count us late if we aren't in our seats when the bell rings." Jason urged the frozen girl. He was already in trouble from that morning, he didn't need another reason to be sent to the office.

Yuna shuffled across the room to their seats in the back. The her utter glee, the Punk new girl came over and sat across the aisle from her. She turned around to Jason and gave him a thumbs up. He just rolled his eyes.

"Hello." A strong and but musical female voice said. It was the new girl.

"Hi!" Yuna replied, needing no more invitation for conversation then the simple greeting. "You must be the new girl. I'm Yuna Dawnson. What's your name?" she asked eagerly from the edge of her seat. Jason covered his eyes with his hand, trying to repress the laughter from the irony. Usually Yuna would punch someone or just plain ignore them if they talked to her, besides him and the teachers. Now she was the one who probably would need shutting up.

"My names Lyra and yeah, its my first year here. I already hate it…" she grumbled the last part. He laughed aloud quietly. "You must be Jason Kell." She said, turning to him. He lifted his eyes from his desk.

"Yeah…" he said, unsure how she knew his name.

"I saw you in the cafeteria putting out Erin Somer. Nice job." She smiled that same brilliant smile.

"Thanks." He said flatly.

"Not one for conversation are you?" she asked after a minute of awkward staring on his part.

"Not really. Though she isn't exactly either." He pointed over to the bouncing Yuna. "Well…normally at least."

"Too bad. So where are you from?" Yuna interrupted. Lyra looked back to her almost reluctantly.

"It may be hard to believe, but I just moved in from Augusta." She said. Yuna looked confused.

"Augusta, Maine?" he asked when she said no more.

"Yeah. We moved down her because my sisters got jobs at some stupid law firm their friend owns in Los Angeles."

"You don't seem very happy about that." He scrutinized.

"Well, I kind of liked the open country out there, so yeah. Plus Alex is a complete ass, but I didn't exactly have any say in the matter."

"Is Alex the owner of the firm your sisters work at?" Yuna asked, shooting Jason a warning glare. She didn't like that she was the one asking the questions but he was the one who talking with Lyra.

"Yeah. We had only lived in Augusta for a few years too…" she sniffed, clearly upset with the topic of conversation. "But anyway, what do kids do for fun around here? I looked around town and there aren't that many good places. And nobody really wants to talk to me after yesterday so I have no idea what to do." Her lower lip jutted out into an attractive pout.

"Well, most of the families around here are super rich and have memberships to the Country Club and all that stuff, so I guess that's pretty much it." Yuna explained with distaste, even though her own father was the owner of the club she spoke of. "There is a movie theater, but its some old drive in that only shows one movie at a time."

"So the freaks unite!" Erin Somer appeared behind them, jumping into the seat ahead of Lyra before she could reply. "I'm sure you'll all be very happy together.

"_God, he never gives up does he?_" Jason thought dryly.

"What do you want Somer?" he hissed.

"I'm hurt by your disparaging attitude towards me Kell. After all, I'm just trying to make the happy couple as comfortable as possible." He sneered, and looked in between Lyra and Yuna.

"Yeah okay, and while your doing that, your boyfriend over there is chatting up another_korítsi. _You better go save him_._" He nodded towards Erin's nimrod sidekick John, who was shamelessly flirting with a cheerleader. "And as a helpful hint: don't use big words when you don't know what they mean."

"You little-!" Erin started, but was stopped when Mr. Moore walked back into the room and called the class to order. Erin gave them one final dirty look before going to his seat on the other side of the room.

Jason took a deep breath to control his instincts and retract his fangs. That kid always brought out the demon in him. Stupid human. He looked over at Lyra who was looking at him strangely. His arms tensed up. Had she seen him? But all she did was turn the corners of her lips up into a tiny but alluring smile, her eyes strangely alight.

For the first time in a long time, he smiled back.

* * *

It turns out that they didn't have lunch or any other classes together, which upset Yuna greatly. Lyra seemed put out too. But when Jason and Yuna were walking around the school to their bike rack, they saw Lyra undoing the chain of the purple bike that they had seen that morning.

"So that's your bike?"

"Yep. It's brand new, courtesy of my sister. She says 'if you're not going to take a car then you should at least bike in style'." She mimicked what her sister probably sounded like with little air quotes too.

"Sounds like someone else I know." Yuna answered. Lyra's older sister sounded exactly like her mother.

"How old is your sister? Don't you live with your parents?" Jason asked. Her sister had to be older then 18 to be her guardian and she had never mentioned her parents.

"No, my parents died awhile ago." She clarified and smirked as if it were a private joke. "I live with 3 siblings; well adoptive siblings I guess. Serena is my listed guardian and she's 22 and her real sister Evain is 20. Jalis is another adoptee and he's 18. He just graduated."

"That must be better then having parents around, just siblings relatively the same age. That would be heaven." Yuna said dreamily.

"It can be good. But sometimes it's a hassle, like when Serena is bitching like a 12 year old because Evain 'stole her spot at the mirror' or something. Trust me, if nagging were a sport, Serena would have filled the house with trophies long ago." She said matter-of-factly.

"I think our families should meet." Yuna said suddenly. "They sound so much alike."

"Sorry honey, not on the first date." She laughed and to Jason's surprise Yuna laughed too, without a hint of discomfort. She must really like this girl. Then a thought occurred to him; maybe she really _did like_ this girl. "That would be awesome. Serena was nagging me before school even started to make friends. She'll be psyched when I tell her." She continued.

Jason undid the chain on his bicycle and gave the handlebars to Yuna. When she started getting on the seat instead of the back bars Lyra got a questioning look.

"Isn't that your bike?" she asked, pointing to the silver contraption.

"Yeah, but thanks to Erin I have to stay after school to talk to the principal about the little scuffle. See you later." He explained and turned around point blank to walk back into the school.

Lyra looked at Yuna with an eyebrow raised. Yuna just smiled at her and laughed, riding off down the path towards her house.

Walking back through the accursed halls, Jason's thoughts went to Yuna. She was his best and only friend (so far) and vice versa. He would do practically anything for the girl. This Lyra chick definitely had an impact on his friend and with Yuna's new discovery about her 'preferences' over the summer, he just hoped nothing bad would happen.

If Yuna really did like this girl then it would explain why she was being so open and forward. The ravenette deserved happiness with all the hell that she had been through in her life, but she hardly knew the girl she might be crushing on, having only met her today.

Jason stopped automatically in front of the principal's office. Time to face the music.

"Hey Frank." He greeted the hippie man sitting at the desk. He looked more like one of those bogus ukulele players you found in the streets then a principal.

"Hello Jason. Sit down." He instructed, pointing to the chair in front of his dingy metal desk. The man folded his hands together and looked at him from behind round glasses. He meant business this time. "Jason, it's the 2nd day of school."

"Trust me I had a hard enough time getting up this morning; I know what day it is." He retorted.

"My point is, is that it's the 2nd day of school and already you and Erin are fighting again. After all of your incidents last year and the counselors we made you see, I had hoped you had gotten past all of this immature rivalry."

"What rivalry? The kid was being a jerk."

"So you hit him?"

"I didn't hit him I pushed him. He was the one who stumbled into the table."

"I also heard you apologize to Yuna and not Erin. Why would you be sorry for her?"

"Because I dodged Erin and he bumped her table." He said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He was there, why was he asking him all these questions?

"Jason…" he groaned, but more in defeat then frustration. Jason was being stubborn and he knew it. "What I'm trying to say is that you are both in 11th grade and you are both Honors students so try behaving like it. Erin is working towards an athletic scholarship and I don't know what you plan to do after high school but I don't want his chances marred by simple hormone explosions."

"_Oh yes, we would hate for that to happen_." Jason thought bitterly. But instead he played stupid.

"Hormone explosions?"

"Jason, what did Erin say to you exactly? Last year the fights looked just like some male dominance thing, but this time it looked like he actually made you mad."

Jason stayed quiet. It's not like it would make any difference. He would get detention, Erin wouldn't and they would end up fighting _again. _

"He was making fun of Yuna on some…private matters that she's touchy on." He explained reluctantly.

"What 'private matters'?" Frank Harris asked.

"Well if I told you, they wouldn't be private now would they?"

"Jason, if it's a matter that someone could touch and be received with a hostile attitude like the one you presented, I should know about it so it doesn't happen again."

"She just found out some stuff about herself this summer that her parents aren't exactly okay with and somehow _vlaka_ found out." He replied tersely. It wasn't exactly his secret to tell.

"Oh…well I'll talk to him personally and tell him to leave her alone. We don't need any discrimination at this school. Now, since we have discussed that, I'll write your detention slip for next Tuesday and you can go home." He said with a heavy sigh.

Jason got up and took the printed slip with a sly grin. As he was walking out, Mr. Harris called out to him.

"And Jason?"

"Hmmm?"

"Please stop insulting people in Greek. I know your from there, but please speak English to people who don't know it, even if it is an insult."

"Did you just give me permission to insult people?"

"Of course not and what does vlaka mean?" he asked and crossed him arms stubbornly. When Jason said nothing, he stooped to threatening. "If you don't tell me I'll just look it up. What does it mean Jason?"

"Nothin'…" he replied coyly and strode the rest of the way out of the office.

"That kid…" he heard Mr. Harris whisper through the wall with his heightened hearing. He walked out of the building, smiling hugely.

As he was walking down the sidewalk towards the parking lot, hands in his pockets, he stopped. He looked around and heard a whooshing sound. He turned around and it came from behind him. He turned around again and waited for it to come back. When the blurry shape streaked next to him, he grabbed it around the waist and flashed over to the wall of the school, pinning it.

Chocolate brown eyes looked back at him through strawberry blond curls.

"I can never beat you can I?" the woman asked. Jason released his grip from around her waist, just to have her slide her fingers up his chest seductively.

"What are you doing here Natasha? Someone could have seen you." He pointed out, grabbing her wrists and putting them down by her sides.

"Do you think I'm that stupid? I just wanted to see you; and of course I made sure nobody was around." She whispered sexily.

"Oh." He said flatly. He left her by the wall to pick up his bag that he had dropped when moved to pin her. He felt small arms come around waist from behind. "What do you want Natasha? I'm in enough trouble as it is today I don't want to get yelled at by Lilith too."

"Oh, were you being a naughty boy?" she giggled. Her hands started to move.

Jason hung his head and sighed then turned around and dragged her wandering hands away again.

"Why did you come here?" he asked seriously, looking her in the eyes.

"I was just wondering if you had thought about my offer."

"Tasha, I've told you a thousand times, literally, that this isn't going to work. Why won't you give up?"

"Because I like you. I want to get to know you better…" she whispered trying to free her hands from his iron grasp.

"I've known you for a 100 years." He replied flatly.

"But not how I want…" she breathed, standing on the tips of her toes so she could kiss him. He grip on her wrists relaxed and she thought she was finally winning but instead he pulled away from her lips.

"If I say yes, will you stop pestering me?"

"If you actually participate then yes." She replied with a beaming smile.

Jason let out another big sigh and tilted his head back for a second to look at the cloudy sky. He had been sighing a lot lately.

Before Natasha could do anything to his neck, he looked back down at her.

"Fine. I'll go on a date with you if you stop bugging me about it every time I see you."

"Yay!" she cheered, bouncing up and down and clapping the tips of her perfectly painted fingers together. "I'll pick you up on Friday!" she announced.

"I have to watch Keyara on Friday. Next Friday." This seemed to bug Natasha, but she said nothing about it.

"Alright. I'll see you then!" she kissed his cheek and winked at him.

Then she was gone.

Jason looked in the direction she had flown off into with a glare. Sure, the woman was attractive and could be useful, but she was so annoying sometimes! His happy mood from the joke worthy conversation he had had with Mr. Harris was gone now.

Picking up his backpack, he stalked home to do his homework and brood about his new plans for next Friday.

* * *

Chapter 4 will be coming soon! I've been working on my other story just a teeny bit so if your reading that, after the next few chapter the updates will get slower for both stories. Maybe. I'm not sure. Anyways, reviews, cookies, carrots; any compliments or complaints are helpful to a writer; unless its about updating. Then its just annoying. So please review or favorite or whatever!

-cally (^o^)


	4. Cell

Heres chapter 4, Lyra builds her cell, hence the title. Read and reviews ma peeps! :D

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN UNDERWORLD! =C

* * *

"Are you sure you got enough stuff?" Jalis asked sarcastically.

"Hey, you're the one who told me to stock up heavy because you didn't want me getting out, so can it!" Lyra snapped. She laid out the plans for her cell that she had made the night before.

It was going to be 15 feet tall and 10 feet wide, which would be just big enough for her werewolf self to squeeze into. That was something she hated about the full moon: how big she was. When she was in her real form she felt like a freaking skyscraper, because the older she got, the bigger her wolf form got. That was the way things worked. And she was really old so it didn't help much with the construction.

The cell itself would be made out of the hardest steel; but of course they would have to strengthen them with magic otherwise she would break them easily. She had already brought her moonlight soaked chains from her old cell in Augusta. That was one of the requirements if you wanted chains to help hold you: they had to be 'soaked in moonlight', which was magic talk for enchanting them on the full moon in the moonlight.

Having been from a magical family and extremely gifted in magic before she was turned, this was no problem for Lyra. Witches had been far more common in her day then they were now. Much more common.

Lyra lifted some of the 100 lb. metal beams she had bought and began laying the perimeter of cage out on the ground. For once she was grateful to Alex; he had good connections. You couldn't exactly buy skyscraper frame material at the Home Depot.

When she was satisfied, she took out her blowtorch and tied her hair back in a ponytail. She didn't want to singe her hair again.

"You know, you should have taken metal shop this year. A lot of human guys find girls with blowtorches and saws sexy, according to action movies." The boy jibbed as she soldered the beams together and to the metal rods she had screwed into the floor earlier.

Lyra looked up at him through the protective mask and shoved the blowtorch towards him. He jumped back.

"Hey!" he protested.

"Then shut up and let me work." She scolded.

"What the heck got your gloves in a bunch? You in a good mood when you came home today."

"I don't know, probably the fact that I'm building another cage for myself! Seriously, do you know how many I've built? How many different places I've had to leave them?" she fumed. "At least 10 cages in the past 5 years because I've either destroyed them or we've had to move."

"Really, that many? Wow…"

"Yeah, so can you blame me for being mad? I was having such a good day today and then the minute I get home Serena starts nagging me about building my cell and now you're down here bugging me. I may be a procrastinator but I'm not a complete dumbass."

"I can leave…" he mumbled.

"If your going to help then stay." She added less harshly when she heard his tone. She hated it when she lost her temper with Jalis. Serena and Evain not so much because they either forgave her quickly, forgot or they would fight it out. It was ironic, because usually that was what boys did when they got into a fight; Jalis was the one who got all mopey and held a grudge.

Without a word, Jalis walked over to a chair in the corner and watched her silently.

After an hour of hoisting and soldering metal beams, she finally got the ground perimeter built and the ceiling perimeter attached successfully.

"I think that's enough for tonight Lyra. Its 5:30, we should eat some dinner and you should get your homework done." He said silently when she started to continue with the plan.

"Alright. I suppose your hungry now, yeah?" she said after some consideration with a gentle smile. Jalis gave her a sheepish one in return and headed up the stairs out of the basement. She smiled after him and put away her tools and rolled up the plan for later.

Following Jalis and heading up out of the musty old basement, Lyra went into the kitchen with her hands on her hips.

"What do you want Jalis?" she yelled out into the living room.

"Anything's fine." He answered, not looking up from his laptop that he was staring intently at.

That night Lyra made stuffed sacchetti with Alfredo sauce and chicken, Jalis' favorite meal. He gave her a large smile in return.

When she was done with her meal and the dishes she let out a big sigh and started sluggishly up the stairs.

"Homework?" Jalis guessed.

"Shut up." She groaned.

He took that as a confirmation and laughed loudly for the first time in their new house.

* * *

Thursday morning Lyra met Yuna on her way to her locker.

"Where's Jason?" Lyra asked as she was taking off her leather jacket.

"He's waiting in the cafeteria. Do you want to sit with us?" she asked eagerly.

"Actually I'm supposed to meet with some people I met on the first day. Do you want to come? It seems like you and Jason keep to yourselves an awful lot." Yuna looked to opposite of eager now. "What, camera shy?" Lyra teased.

"Well…I just, I don't like meeting other people I guess. And I don't want to leave Jason alone…"

"Okay, I guess I'll just see you in English then."

"Okay…"

Lyra walked off towards the cafeteria and searched for the table that held her two other new friends.

"Lyra!" Kida yelled.

"Hey guys. Watcha doing?" she asked, sitting down on one of the round seats.

"She's trying to teach me some Latvian." Steven chirped, looking rather miffed.

"Keyword being trying." Kida interjected.

"It's hard!"

"So? You're the one who wanted to learn. Learning another language is hard; at least you don't _have_ to learn it." She chided.

"Yeah, learning different languages is hard. Especially if you have to. English was a bitch for me." Lyra added. They both stared at her, bowled over at her comment.

"What do you mean? Weren't you born here?" Steve asked.

"Nope." Lyra said nibbling on a cracker she had brought. "I was born in Russia and I moved here when I was 10."

"Really? Then where's your Russian accent?"

"In Russia." She shrugged. "I don't know; I never really had one except when I say some words. You can tell that I'm from Russia when I actually speak Russian though."

"Say something in Russian!" both Kida and Steve chimed in unison.

"Like what?"

"I don't know…'my name is' or something."

"Okay…well 'my name is' is pronounced 'menya zavoot'."

"How do you spell it? Isn't the Russian alphabet made up of symbols?" Kida asked.

"Yeah, its called the Cyrillic alphabet. This is how you write menya zavoot." She took out a piece of paper and wrote down МЕНЯ ЗАВУТ in her flowing script.

"Sweet…" Steve said while Kida said,

"You have nice handwriting." Steve and Lyra both looked at her and then all 3 of them started laughing. Then Kida got up.

"Well, I have to go. I wanted to ask my teacher about something."

"I'll go with you!" Steve hopped up and nearly knocked all of his things over in the process. Lyra just smirked at him. Major crush mode there.

"Okay then, I'll see you guys later."

When they had left, Lyra sat there and looked around the cafeteria. She saw Erin Somer looking in her direction and he quickly averted his gaze when she looked back. Then she saw Jason and Yuna conversing in a corner table and smiled.

"Hey." She greeted as she sat down across the table from them.

"Hi! I thought you were hanging with your other friends?" Yuna greeted. Jason just kept on reading his book.

"They had to go. So is this what you guys do every morning? Just sit here and read your books and listen to your IPods?"

"Yep. There isn't much else to do…" she trailed off and looked over Lyra's shoulder. Lyra's eyes darted back and forth between Yuna and beside her, trying to see with her peripherals.

"What?" she asked, turning around and seeing nothing.

"Erin is staring at you weird…" she replied.

Lyra twisted her waist around more so she could see behind her and sure enough, there he was and he was staring at her with a creepy look on his face.

"I wonder what his problem is." She said, still staring at him. He kept staring at her until she gave him the evil eye.

Finally Jason looked up from his book. His eyebrows knit together when he saw Erin too.

"Why does he keep doing that?" he asked. Yuna and Lyra turned to him with questioning looks.

"Doing what?"

"Staring at you. He was the other day and he has been ever since you walked into the cafeteria."

"I thought you were reading your book." Lyra teased, vaguely aware of what he just said meant.

"I was. But I do have eyes."

"Right." She laughed. "But he's been staring at me?"

"Yeah. For the past 5 minutes." And awkward silence descended on the 3 juniors.

"What a creep…" Yuna whispered. Then the 5 minute bell rang.

"Well, that's my cue so I better skedaddle before I feel even more tempted to punch that kid." Lyra said darkly, nodding over in Erin's direction.

"I like her." Jason murmured to Yuna, looking impressed at her threat. Lyra winked at both of them and got up to go to her Trig class.

* * *

The rest of that day and Friday were basically the same. Lyra would meet up with Yuna before school and then head to the cafeteria to talk to Steve and Kida. The two sophomores were smart, funny and Kida could relate to Lyra on the foreign subject. She was really starting to like them and they put a shine in her dark Gothic days.

The next two hours would drag by with the teachers saying things that she either already knew or she was sure she didn't need to know. Then the glory of 3rd hour would come.

She would sit next to Yuna and Jason talking the whole hour, even when the teacher was. They didn't really seem to mind and Yuna seemed more then eager to have another friend. She would ask about her family, what music she liked, what she liked to do, where she liked to go. It turns out that all three of them were adopted, Yuna liked the same rock bands and clothes stores as her and Jason painted and drew as well.

When Lyra told the Japanese girl that she was from Russia on Thursday, she nearly went ecstatic about the fact that all three of them weren't born in the United States and had another thing in common.

"Wait, where's Jason from then?" Lyra had asked.

"Greece." He answered flatly.

"Oh…I was wondering about your accent. I just thought it was because you were from a different state or something. This is cool; in a poster town like Guiden I thought everybody would practically be natives to California. So are Greek people always eating and stuff, like in My Big Fat Greek Wedding?" She snickered, leaning over the side of her chair.

"I haven't seen that movie." He had said simply, actually listening to the teacher. Lyra had given him a strange stare and then looked at Yuna with a questionable glance. All Yuna did was roll her eyes in his direction.

"Ignore him; he's not very conversational…or outgoing…or exciting for that matter." She giggled on the last part and Jason shot her a short an irked glare which elicited more laughter from the two teenage girls.

Everybody in the class, including Jason, groaned aloud when Mr. Moore announced that they would be writing a paper in a few weeks on Shakespearean language that would be 40% of their final grade. Perfect.

When 3rd hour ended, Lyra reluctantly parted from her new best friend. Forth hour passed quickly with the promise of food at the end of it all and she sat with Steve and Kida.

Also on Thursday, she had come upon the amusing sight of Steve trying to pronounce something in Latvian at lunch.

"…Ko tiv et." Steve said, struggling with getting the accents right.

"No, look at what I wrote, its exactly how you say it." Kida corrected. Her patience seemed to be endless.

"Ka tev iet?" Lyra said, reading the words on the piece of notebook paper Kida was pointing at.

"What she said. Say exactly what she did." Kida instructed. With a glare at Lyra, Steve repeated what she said and almost got it right. "Good! See, tev is the word for you. So try to remember that because it comes up a lot in greetings."

"What does it mean?" she asked. She knew at least a dozen languages, but Latvian wasn't one of them.

"It means 'how are you?'." Steve replied, chagrin coloring his usually perky voice.

Lyra had just laughed and ate her lunch, which she had remembered to bring from home.

On Friday after school, Lyra had walked with Yuna to the bike rack where they met Jason all ready to go. Lyra was mounting her own bike when she looked up at the sound of heavy footsteps running towards her. Yuna screeched to a stop in front of her.

"I almost forgot to ask, I know we've only known each other for a little while but do you have a cell phone or anything? So I could call you or text you? I was hoping maybe I could show you around town or something this Saturday if you're not busy."

"Oh yeah sure. Hold on." Lyra replied and took out a piece of paper. She scribbled down her cell number and her email address and handed the slip to the ravenette. "Here you go. Could I have yours so I don't mistake you for some creeper or something?" she laughed.

"Yeah, can I borrow the pencil though? And some paper…"

When Yuna had finally written down the information in her chicken scratch (after a suspicious amount of time she might add), she ran back to where Jason was waiting and waved before they rode off. Lyra smiled and waved until they were out of site then started off toward her own house.

"How was school?" Evain asked when she made it through the door.

"It's actually not that bad. I made some new friends, and some of them want to show me around town on Saturday."

"Oh, do we have our sites on some poor boy already?" Serena teased.

"_Maybe_…" Lyra thought, her mind flashing to the mysterious and stunning Jason Kell. But instead she said,

"No, her names Yuna Dawnson. She's a girl in my English class. Its pretty awesome, she's the only other person in town who dresses like me."

"Is she Asian?" Serena asked oddly.

"Yeah, why?"

"I saw her at the Country Club when I was checking it out the other day. Like you said, her clothes were the thing that stood out. She was hanging around in the lounge blasting her IPod at a painful volume, even for me." Serena replied with a sniff of distaste.

"That's weird. She said that she hated that place."

"Well, I asked around and apparently a Kyle and Georgia Dawnson own the place, so maybe they're her adoptive parents or something. They definitely weren't Asian." She mused rudely.

"I'll ask her later. I have to go work on my cell." She said scornfully.

"Wait." Evain said and Lyra halted her trek to the basement. "You said 'some of them' want to show you around town. Who else is going?" she asked. Lyra groaned internally.

"_Leave it to Evain to catch that_." She thought wryly. That girl was way too observative sometimes for Lyra's taste.

"Well, her friend Jason might be coming too, I'm not sure. She didn't really say, but it looks like those two do everything together. He even gives her a ride to school on his bike!"

"Ah, so you do have a boy in your sights." Jalis challenged.

"No! Its just that he's Yuna's friend and they do a lot of things together so I just assumed he was coming too. I talk to him sometimes so I guess he's kind of in the friend category…" she rushed to get the words out so she wouldn't sound like an idiot with a crush. She did anyway.

"Whatever." Jalis said in a sing song voice.

"I'd like to meet your friends soon; I want to meet the people who made my sister more enjoyable to be around in the mornings. Are they witches by any chance?" Serena joked, continuing their earlier conversation so her sister wouldn't start something up with Jalis.

"I want to meet this Jason guy too. He may be the only chance I have of getting to know a separate male being other then Alex. I'm getting overrun by girls!" Jalis said with fake horror.

"Damn straight, and its going to stay that way." Lyra teased, getting over her hasty cover up. "Anyway, I'm going to go do my homework now." She turned away from the basement door and headed up the massive staircase to her right.

"I thought you were going to build your cell."

"I'm almost done so I'll just finish it on Sunday if I go out tomorrow. I have some stupid Trig homework to do and some Euro History." She explained and bounded up the stairs to her room. Rushing over to the mattress that was lying on the floor covered with dark burgundy sheets, she picked up her laptop and turned it on.

While she waiting for the thing to actually get done loading all the files in her settings, she plopped down on her bean bag chair touching the nightstand next to the mattress on the floor. Her room was small and she didn't want to waste space on a bed frame so she had just thrown her bed on the ground, much to Serena and Evain's dismay.

Yanking off her boots, she grabbed her now loaded laptop and opened up her email, checking to see if Alex had sent her any messages. There was only one, but it was from him, so she reluctantly opened it. It said:

Hey Lyra how's school going? Serena told me that you started 11th grade at Mt. Guiden High School. I can only imagine how boring that must be. Anyways, I have some business with you if your not too busy. One of my employees was found dead in his home on Tuesday with vampire bites in his neck. We have located a den in Fresno, a town not 20 minutes away from your house. They have caused trouble many times before this so it would be just be an ASAP destroyer mission. I have a back up assistant that can do the job if you don't want to, its your choice. But if you don't reply by 09/13/10 then I'll send him in.

Good luck on your exams and homework and everything else. I'm sorry that I had to move you guys again; I hope not too much hassle was caused.

By the way, make sure to build a new cell by the reply date, I'm aware that next Tuesday is the first night of the next full moon cycle.

-Alex

"_Of course Alex would send a message like that_." Lyra thought. How amusing. Feeling more upbeat then usual when it came to anything related to Alex, even an email, she typed a cheeky rejection and tapped the send button. Serves him right.

Satisfied with her work, Lyra closed the laptop, putting it in Hibernation. She reached into her bag and tugged out her 1000 page Euro History book and started on the 2-sided worksheet that Mrs. Canz had given them. It was all simple stuff, even though most of it wasn't listed in the books. Just listing dates of wars and important meetings and blah blah blah.

Lyra whizzed through her homework, no sweat. As she looked around her room for something to do she remembered the piece of paper that Yuna had given her with her cell and email address. Reaching into a pocket of the black capris she was wearing, she drew the slip out and read it. She gasped in joyous shock. Along with her cell phone number and email address Yuna had added something else:

I knew he would never give it to you himself so here is Jason's email too. He's an old fashioned kind of dude, so he doesn't have a cell phone. He likes you so just ignore his attitude, I do. ;D

Lyra sat there staring at the slip of paper in amazement. Hauling her laptop back onto her knees, she tapped her fingers impatiently for it to wake up from Hibernation mode. When it finally wheezed to life, she immediately opened her IM box and typed in the address. The person was online! Still in a good mood, she decided to play annoying.

WolfGirl: look behind u!

0000: yeah, I'm going to fall for that.

WolfGirl: ur no fun

0000: no, I'm just not an idiot.

WolfGirl: says u. wat if I was a crazy serial killer standing inside ur closet with a machete ready to jump out at u?

0000: then I'm fairly certain I would have heard you typing.

WolfGirl: ya right. And wats up with the bogus '0000' for ur chat name?

0000: I didn't want to have something stupid like WolfGirl like _some_ people. *cough* Lyra *cough*.

WolfGirl: *gasp* how did you kno it was me? =C

0000: your name tells all.

WolfGirl: =P

0000: stop using chat speak, it makes you look unintelligent.

WolfGirl: u calling me stupid?

Underworldlisten: hey, u found us! :D

WolfGirl: …I'm guessing that's Yuna?

Underworldlisten: yep! :D

WolfGirl: wats with ur name? wat does underworld listen mean?

0000: it was supposed to be underworldlistener but the system cut off the last two letters because it was too long.

Underworldlisten: ='C

WolfGirl: lol

0000: Goodbye.

The computer said '0000 has logged off' which made Lyra frown.

WolfGirl: wats his prob?

Underworldlisten: eh, he probably has to go take care of Keyara. His parents have been dumping her on him for the past couple of weeks whenever they want to go out.

WolfGirl: …and Keyara is who?

Underworldlisten: oh right, Keyara is his little sister. Well kinda I guess. His adoptive parents just had a baby 7 months ago and l8ly they've been making him take care of her so they can get out.

WolfGirl: that must suck. If they're the 1s who wanted her then they should take care of her.

Underworldlisten: well she wasn't exactly planned, but she's a sweetie so no worries. Wat r u doing?

WolfGirl: atm, talking 2 u, but I was thinking of writing in my journal. Idk y, but I'm really bushed. I asked Serena about tomorrow and she said that we can hang out, so I'll just talk to u tomorrow, k?

Underworldlisten: u keep a journal?

WolfGirl: on my computer I do. Idk, I just like to keep track of stuff that happens. I don't do it every day, that would be ridiculous but I usually write down wat happens in a week or every couple of days. I g2g now, so c you l8er! :D call me when you wanna go k?

Underworldlisten: kk bye bye :D

Lyra logged off of her email account and opened up a Microsoft Word document. She opened up the new file labeled 'September 2010'. Her last entry had been on Monday, Labor Day. She started to type again.

Week of September 7th

_Well, this week hasn't been as bad as I thought. Steve, Kida and Yuna are turning out to be real friends and have been helping me out. I don't really know what Jason's deal is. He usually just sits there and reads his history books, throwing in some small comment now and again. I don't know why, but I feel this strong urge to find out everything I possibly can about him. Maybe its' because he's the only person who doesn't seem interested in knowing me somehow, despite what Yuna wrote. Everybody else is practically flocking my locker. Or maybe its' just my natural curiosity?_

_Earlier Evain and Serena were teasing me about him and for a second I actually thought that they might be right. I know I hardly know him, but I feel this really weird…connection maybe? Whatever, I'll figure him out sooner or later._

_Alex sent me an email yesterday that I read today. Of course he already has a job for me. I turned it down and told him to ask our little buddy Jalis. The kid has been looking paler then usual lately. He seriously needs a girlfriend or something._

_Next Tuesday is the full moon and of course we know what that means. Everybody at home keeps bugging me about finishing up my new cell; even Alex felt the need to thrown in his share of urging. I know I'm a procrastinator but seriously I'm not that stupid._

_Yuna gave me her number and email today, she even threw in Jason's. We might go out to the mall or something Saturday since she offered to show me around town today at the end of school. I hope Jason can come, though he probably won't. Once again, I don't know what his problem is, but already I'm getting annoyed just thinking about it. He should get an award for that._

_I was hoping to check out Fresno tomorrow, I heard Serena the fashionista mention that there's a huge mall there. I looked on the website and they have a Hot Topic, so maybe I can drag Yuna along too. I might even go back and check out that nest that Alex mentioned in the email. Anything to get out of Guiden, this place is so boring and it feels weird to be here, but in an internal way, not just because I didn't want to come. It sounds stupid but I don't think Alex told me everything about why he moved us here._

Lyra stopped typing. Something seemed to be missing from her entry. She looked at her clock and it said 8:00pm. She had spent more time on her homework then she thought. Or maybe she had been talking to Yuna and Jason longer then she thought.

She turned back to her laptop and yawned. She sat there and thought for a minute, trying to put her finger on what was missing. When she couldn't come up with anything, she gave an exasperated sigh and threw her laptop carefully on her bed.

She grabbed her Emily the Strange cotton pants and black tank top for pajamas and headed to the bathroom.

She washed herself off from head to toe, prolonging the hot water. When Serena came banging on the door for her to stop hogging all the steamy goodness, she turned the nozzles off and wrapped a towel around her hair and torso.

Heading back to her room after 10 minutes of drying off, brushing her teeth and blow drying her hair, Lyra slinked under the warm covers of her bed. Resting her head on her Jack Skellington pillow, she reached for her laptop for the last time that night to add one line, the missing piece.

_There's something wrong with this town. _

* * *

Well, I'm not really sure if that is a cliffhanger or not, but heres the 4th chapter! Per usual, the next will be up in about 4 days. Reviews are nice people.

-cally (^o^)


	5. Plans

_**CHAPTER 5: PLANS **_

Hello again! For this chapter and all the following ones, I would just like to say that a few days ago I got a review asking if Lyra's last name was 'borrowed' from the movie Van Helsing. This is not the case, so please don't criticize me about it. But thank you to who pointed that out, I had no idea :D so read, review and enjoy please! :D

There may be a tiny bit of plot in this chapter…but it runs into the next chapter too so I don't really think it counts XD

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN UNDERWORLD OR THE LAST NAME FROM VAN HELSING THAT I HAVE JUST BEEN INFORMED OF.

* * *

Jason shut down his rusty old computer with exaggerated slowness. He spun around on his rolling chair to look at his room. Everything was in order; all of his homework was done, his laundry was clean and he had done his chores including making all of those ridiculous potions his mother had assigned him. Just because he actually could make potions and knew some olden day spells didn't mean he was their mule.

Despite his annoyance at the woman, he smiled. She had always been so loving despite her young age and would take care of anyone. The reason that she would even be willing to take care of a blood drinking monster like himself had never made itself known in his mind; the woman was a mystery, but he was glad it was so.

He picked up a picture on the shelf attached to the wall next to the kitchen. It was their wedding photo: Lilith looked amazing in a white flowing gown while Claude looked handsome in a classic wedding tuxedo.

Claude and Lilith Kell, his adoptive parents, had moved to Guiden California a year and a half ago. They had gotten married 5 years ago and had 'adopted' him 3 years later, just before they had moved.

Lilith had been a student studying abroad from a college in Ireland where she was born and raised. She had met Claude at one of the Spanish study programs, where he was learning Spanish to complete his required 3 languages to be the linguist he hoped to be. They had started dating and were soon falling in love.

Jason had been tracking a gang of vampires that had caused trouble in Australia where he had lived before they moved here. They had killed one of his best friends and he was bent on revenge, when he saw the two lovebirds. They had been dating for awhile and Claude had just proposed to her under very romantic circumstances, when they left a restaurant.

The two were walking down the back alley way, hand in hand. Lilith was gushing with excitement over their new circumstances and Claude had just been basking in the moment. The vampires that Jason was stalking from the precipice of an office building had caught their scent and were on the hunt now. He remembered thinking how lucky he was now that they would easily be caught off guard with his attack, even though that took a lot of the fun out of it.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" one of the burlier fang boys had called out when they were behind the happy couple.

"I guess it's our lucky day; dinner and a pretty lady." One of the others had joked sickeningly. Vampires usually brought the same personality into their immortal lives from their mortal ones; it was disgusting how vile the man's thoughts were.

"What do you want?" Claude had asked, stepping in front of Lilith in a protective stance.

"We just want to play sugar." The only female in the group hissed; her name was Katie if Jason recalled.

"Stay away from us." Claude warned.

"Yeah? And who's going to stop us? You?" the burly one from before asked, laughing loudly with the others. Then their eyes had lit up into a ferociously bright blue and their canines had lengthened into fangs. They were showing what macho vampires they were.

One of them had started walking towards them when Claude held out his hands and the vampire had flung backwards into a pile of trash from the restaurant.

The rest of the vampires and Jason had both froze, stunned. That was the reason they weren't as afraid as the normal human would be: they had powers.

Recovering faster then the gang and the vampire in the garbage heap, Jason had jumped down from the 40 foot high building and down to the ground behind the group.

All of within 3 seconds he had killed the rest of the vampires and now headed towards the one in the trash heap. He sunk his own fangs into the man's neck and tore it out, nearly decapitating the thing, which was enough to kill him.

Turning around he looked back at the two humans who were staring at him in wonder instead of horror. He must be a sight: a teenage boy that had jumped down 40 feet without the slightest hesitation or hint of pain and that had killed 4 vampires in less than 30 seconds. Not to mention with his teeth that were now covered in crimson blood.

"Thank you." The man had said, the woman nodding rapidly with him. At least she seemed to have enough self preservation to be a little scared.

"It wasn't for you." He had replied and turned around to walk back to his hotel room.

"Wait!" the woman had called out and started towards him. He turned back and glared at her. "You're just a child" she whispered, to his surprise. When ever he saved someone they either ran away from him or thanked him and then ran away. Never had someone actually talked to him, much less notice his age.

"So?" he had retorted coldly. Why would she care?

"Lilith I think he wants to leave. Come on, we should get back."

"No, wait Claude." She said, holding her hand back towards him. "What's your name?"

This had floored Jason for a minute. He wanted to talk to them, to confide in them since they didn't seem scared of him for once and actually had some supernatural experience since they were witches. But the instinct to kill when he had even another immortals blood on his lips was too strong at the moment.

He had just simply stared at her with a longing look on his perfect face and then turned around to walk away. When the woman had finally retreated back to her fiancé, Jason watched them from the rooftop where he had perched before.

A few nights later, when the two had been celebrating their engagement and all but forgotten the incident, Jason had shown up on their doorstep. There was something about those people that was new to him; different. He wanted to get to know them. So that's exactly what he did.

At first he was unsure of his actions, but when the man had welcomed him in without hesitation all his doubts went away. The three stayed up all night talking about themselves (after all the other guests had left of course), what Jason was and what they could do. Soon they had all become good friends and when it came time for their wedding, Jason had been invited.

Three years after their marriage, Lilith suggested that he live with them, as their

'adopted' son. After much reluctance he agreed and then they had moved to Guiden, where he started up school as a sophomore (though he could hardly pass as a junior). Just a few months after they had moved in, Jason made friends with Yuna, the Japanese girl who lived down the street.

And then that brought them back to the present. Jason set down the wedding photo and heading into the kitchen, where Lilith was searching through the abyss that was her purse for her keys.

"Are you guys leaving now?" he asked.

"Yes, your father is trying to find his wallet and I'm trying to find my keys. Do you know where they are?" she asked. Lilith had no problem referring to him as her son or to Claude as his father, though Claude and he were more like friends then family.

"Aren't they in your other purse? The black one that you took out 3 nights ago?" he said. Lilith had turned into a stay at home mother when Keyara was born, yet she still had too many purses and shoes worth counting.

"Oh right." She headed up the stairs just as Claude was coming down, dressed up nicely for a night on the town. Not that there was much town here to go to.

"Thanks again for watching Keyara tonight Jason. Since Lily has been staying home, I feel like I haven't been doing very good as a husband." He fretted.

"Don't worry about it I don't have anything else to do anyway. And you're doing fine as a husband, its' just different now that you have a baby of your own and not just an adopted teenager." Jason comforted.

"Yeah, I suppose so. But anyway, you know all the emergency numbers and everything? In case something happens?" he asked, only like a father would.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, now you two go before I have to shove you out the door myself." He joked.

"Alright I'm ready. Let's go!" Lilith cheered, giving Jason a kiss on the cheek and hooking her arm through her husbands. Jason smiled after them and waved through the window before turning back to the kitchen. It was 8:00 already.

Keyara was upstairs sleeping for now, so he went into the living room to see what was on TV. He flipped through the channels of children's shows and crime dramas, settling on the news. Humans always had some trivial new problem on their hands, usually from their own stupidity; like the new problem of global warming.

Suddenly hands were running down his chest slowly and warm breath could be felt on his neck.

"Why do you bother with human's petty little problems? It's not like they concern you." A voice breathed in his ear.

"Because it's the only thing on." He answered. "What do you want Natasha? I told you the date was next Friday."

The blond removed her hands and came to sit next to him on the sofa.

"I know, but I wasn't busy so I came to see you." She said in her wind chime voice.

"Well, I'm taking care of Keyara right now, so try again later."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to try anything…well, at least not anything too bad." She chuckled, scooting closer to him. She grabbed his face and turned it toward her so she could kiss him.

Natasha was a good kisser he had to admit; not like he had any other experience to compare it to. She was the first person to show any interest in him and pursue him, unlike the other vampire women who gave up when he rejected them quickly.

She moved her mouth almost roughly against his, but that was to be expected. She viewed herself as a predator, men being her prey. His kissed her back just because he wanted to see how much she wanted it.

Natasha wasn't expecting him to react since he never did. She reached up and curled her fingers around his shoulders. Damn he was good kisser, despite his lack of 'experience'.

Jason lowered her down onto her back so her head was resting against the arm of the couch and continued to kiss her; to tease her with his tongue and teeth. He could tell that she was getting excited with the thought that he had finally given in, that she had won. So he pulled away after a minute to stare at her, propping himself up on his elbows so he was hovering above her.

"Why did you stop?" she pouted. She was quite good at that.

"It's starting to seem to me that you're a succubus instead of a vampire." He joked, amusement leaking into his voice.

"So? I don't see you complaining very much. Maybe I'm just a sensual person." She said, wiggling slightly underneath him, probably trying to be seductive.

"Right…" he said. Then he lowered his lips down so they were brushing against hers ever so slightly. "Well it just so happens that I'm not." He whispered against them. Then he got up and pulled away, hearing Keyara starting to fuss upstairs.

"Why do you tease me like that?" she nearly cried, frustration coloring her tone.

"You should go; Yuna will be coming over any minute." He said as he walked up the stairs and out of her sight, trying not to start laughing at the look on her face.

Natasha sat there, her mouth hanging open. He had just played her! At first she was angry, but then as a thought began to form in her mind, her frown turned into a devilish grin. So he wanted to play huh? Well, she would give him the best game ever!

"I'll see you next Friday then." She said, knowing he could hear her just fine upstairs with his extra hearing. She walked over and was about to open the door just as someone rang the doorbell. She opened it to find Yuna standing there, holding textbooks and microwave popcorn.

"Hey, I finally found some cheese powder for the-" she stopped when she looked up and saw the beautiful vampire standing in front of her instead of her friend. "Oh…hi. Its Natasha right? What are you doing here; I thought Jason's parents were out?"

"I was just dropping by." She replied, unable to keep the slyness out of her voice.

"Okay…" Natasha just turned around and walked elegantly down the front steps and was gone in the blink of an eye.

Jason came down the stairs, holding a weeping bundle in his arms.

"Oh, hey Yuna. She just woke up." He explained, looking at the baby in his arms with love only a brother could give.

"Why was that Natasha chick here? I thought she was you're parents friend."

"She left? Thank god!" he exclaimed.

"So what's the deal with her? She had this really weird sneaky look on her face."

"Did she now? That can't be good…"

"So what's the deal with you two? She's been around a lot lately. You got a thing for her or something?" she asked boldly.

"Of course not!" he said, though he went a little red in the face.

"Sure you don't." she said, looking at him with narrowed eyes and knowing smile.

"It's her who has a thing! She won't leave me alone lately. She made me agree to go on a date with her on Friday too…" he announced with horror in his voice.

"You sound awfully afraid. I know she's a vampire but still; you're older then her you can handle yourself." She joked, glad to flaunt her new found knowledge on his immortal existence.

"That's not the point! I don't want to go out with her. Its hard enough having her as a friend, now she's pushing me way out of my comfort zone."

"How can she make you agree to go on a date with her?" Yuna mused.

"Well, she didn't make me, but it's the only way to make her leave me alone. So I just said yes."

"That's not very nice." She rebuked.

"Oh well."

"Come on man, have a heart!"

"No thanks." He replied cheekily. Yuna smacked his arm. "So what were you and Lyra talking about earlier, when you jumped off the bike? Besides you giving her my email." He added the last sentence with annoyance.

"Just making some plans."

"Plans?"

"Yep, me and her are going to go out tomorrow." She smiled.

Jason froze. Going out? As friends or on a date? He didn't think Lyra went that way but then again she was rather friendly with everybody…

"I think Keya wants down." Yuna said, pointing to the small bundle in his arms. He quickly set her on the floor and unwrapped her from the mummy hold the blanket had.

"So…you and Lyra are going out? Like a date?..." he asked nervously.

"No, I'm just going to show her around town. My dad said he talked to her sister when she signed them up at the country club, can you believe it? He said that they hadn't gotten much time to roam around with the new house, signing Lyra up for school and their jobs, yada yada yada. So I thought since we're friends, or trying to be, I thought I could do something nice." She paused, looking for his reaction. He just stared at her. "You should come, from the look that was on her face she wants you to." She winked at him.

"…Yuna…do you…_like_ Lyra?" he finally asked, well aware of how thin this line could get. Yuna wasn't exactly used to admitting she liked another girl.

"Maybe. I don't know, I've only known her for a few days but she is pretty awesome and fun. She's more like me then anybody I've ever met, so I guess I might, in that way. But I'm pretty sure she has her sights on someone else." She said with a thoughtful nod and a knowing look in his direction.

"Really?" he asked trying to sound discrete and looking down and the baby girl on the floor.

"Yeah, but he's totally oblivious, although I don't know how that's possible with someone like her. He's the basic idiot type." She snorted, watching as the popcorn bag she had placed in the microwave began to grow. "Its sad really." She added, hoping to get through to him.

"I guess." He said simply, totally oblivious about who she was talking about.

Yuna threw him an amused and disbelieving glance from around the kitchen corner, only to be met by his back seated on the couch. The guy was great, but he really could be a moron sometimes. Especially when it came to women.

"I'm talking about you dumbass!" she said and threw an apple from the counter at his head. He caught it, as she expected.

"Right…hey wait a minute!" he objected, remembering the 'idiot type' crack.

"God, you really are ignorant! It's so obvious!" she tried to sound irritated but burst out laughing instead.

"That's not true." He mumbled. "And I don't ignore her; you're the one who told her that I'm not 'conversational' so its your fault if she doesn't talk to me." He tried not to hear how pathetic he sounded.

"Uh-huh, sure." Yuna replied, waggling her eyebrows before she turned to dump powered cheese onto the popcorn.

It wasn't like he didn't like the girl; she _was_ different and oddly intriguing. But he got this weird vibe off of her, like the one he got off of Natasha the few times he had made her really angry. She had power, whether or not it was supernatural he didn't know; even if he did like her he wasn't about to get involved when he didn't know anything.

"I don't know, there's just something off about her. I can't place it but it makes me feel…almost wary whenever she's in the room, but at the same time its familiar." He tried to explain his thoughts.

"Maybe she's a witch or something. She does live in a spooky house." Yuna joked, stuffing some now orange popcorn into her mouth.

"I'm serious; I've never felt anything like it, or at least not _exactly_ like it. It sounds cheesy, but she's hiding something and I want to know what it is." He complained.

"So? Everybody has secrets. You yourself aren't exactly Johnny-tell-all; you have secrets too. Not to mention how big they are; you don't see her pounding on the door just because she doesn't know everything about your family do you?"

"I guess not…" he said after a many seconds, taking a few pieces of the treat in between them himself.

"So how's the tyke doing?" Yuna asked and nodded to Keyara on the floor.

"Good; thank god she usually is in a good mood or sleeping when I watch her. I don't think I could handle all the crying she does when Lilith is here." He admitted.

"Why do you think I come over?" Yuna jibbed.

A small brown form suddenly pounced on the little girl, earning it a squeak of protest. The tiny fur ball looked up at Yuna and Jason with playful green eyes.

"Ebony." Jason scolded and picked up the brown heap of hair. She mewled quietly while he pet her head. Keyara looked up at him with bulging eyes, fascinated by the soft ball he was holding.

"You know what?" Yuna asked out of the blue.

"What?" came the distracted reply.

"I think we should try to find out her secrets for ourselves." She concluded.

"And what to you mean by that?" he asked, more interest in his voice then before.

"…We should sneak in to her house!" she blurted excitedly.

"What? Why would we do that? And I have to watch Keyara tonight remember? Besides you just said you want to be friends with her and now you want to break into her house? Some friend you are."

"Well, your sitting here complaining about it and it made me curious too! And I didn't mean we have to go right now." Jason breathed a sigh of relief. "I meant after your parents get home and think we're asleep." She added. Jason's face blanched. It was only 8:30 for crying out loud!

"That's a horrible idea! You're talking about breaking and entering."

"Well, technically it is I guess, but we'll be secret about it. I've snuck into that mansion before when I was little; and this time I'll have a monster buddy to help me!" she chimed, clapping her hands together happily and punching his arm playfully.

"Yuna…no." he groaned.

"Please? Please, please, please? You know you want to!" she begged.

True, he did want to very much now that she had brought up the suggestion. But he knew it was wrong and if his hunch was right and there was something odd or even supernatural about that family then they most likely would get caught.

"Fine!" he snapped, giving in to his own ridiculous curiosity. He knew he would give in eventually.

"Great! So now all we need to do is wait until your parents get home and pretend to sleep, then go to bed and we then we can sneak out your window old style."

"Wait, before you said mansion. What mansion, the only one I can think of is the Somer's place." He asked grimacing at the thought of the annoying human boy.

"You know, that century old mansion on Tasin Hill? The one that Latin guy used to own? Oh, right, I suppose you didn't live here when he did. Anyway, some old Latin guy lived there and the house had been in his family since it was built in 1903. The guy died 3 years ago. But I looked around because I was surprised that someone was actually moving in and I noticed that they were only taking one person's things in. Lyra's two older sisters live somewhere else apparently and her brother usually isn't there. So tonight is a perfect chance, since it's a Friday and her sister is a party lover."

"I can't believe you even got me to start thinking about this. Fine, I'll go but if they come home and find us, you're taking the blame." He said, shoving his index finger towards her. Yuna just smiled in return. "And what the heck, how do you know what they do during the day?"

Yuna smiled impishly.

"Yuna! You spy on them?" he scolded.

"Not really. I mean I was looking around the first time and then afterwards it would just be passing by on a walk. Not to mention how her sister tends to spend lots of time at the country club so it doesn't take a genius to figure that one out." She explained coyly. Jason just gave her dry look and shook his head at his best friend's antics.

Jason turned around and started tending to Keyara, who was fussing around from the lack of attention. Ebony jumped from Jason's lap to Yuna's, who started stroking the fluffy brown tabby. They had never figured out why she had taken a liking to Jason; most animals were afraid of supernatural creatures like him.

"I'll run back home to get ready, I'll be back by 9." She told him and grabbed her bag to fly out the door, Jason shaking his head after her.

* * *

By the time Lilith and Claude had gotten back to their home, they found 2 teenagers on their living room furniture asleep; one of them a midnight haired boy with a little baby girl stretched across his chest sleeping as well on the sofa. The other was a raven haired Goth with a little bundle of tabby fur curled up on her lap in the chair.

Gently, so as not to wake her adopted son, Lilith lifted her new daughter up off of his slowly rising and falling chest. She reached down and stroked a strand of hair away from his handsome face, a loving look in her eyes.

"Hey guys, wake up." Claude said, lightly shaking his son's shoulder. Both Yuna and Jason stirred and groggily walked up the stairs to the teen boy's room.

His parents never worried about leaving those two alone. They knew their son would never do anything stupid, like sneak out or try to start something with Yuna. The thought of those two together made Claude laugh silently before they headed off to bed themselves, with their new baby in tow.

Too bad they didn't know him as good as they thought.

* * *

Please rate and review! :D any comment is appreciated! The next chapter is closely related to this one so it will be up in 2 days instead of 4.

-cally (^o^)


	6. Undercover

_**CHAPTER SIX: UNDERCOVER **_

Yay! someone gave me a review! ok so this chapter like i said is a continuation of chapter 5. basically Yuna is being evil, Jason is being an unwilling idiot and some of Lyra's secrets get revealed...but to them. wow, i'm so mean to my own characters...XD!

DISCLAIMER: I DONT OWN UNDERWORLD! YA, LIFE SUCKS ALL AROUND.

* * *

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this." Jason hissed as he parked his bike next to a tree on the side of the long brick driveway outside the giant metal gates.

"Come on, you're just as curious as I am." Yuna replied. She had changed out of her usual long skirt and had put on a black sweater, black cargo pants and black combat boots that didn't have a platform. She had also grabbed a flashlight, notebook, a camera and plastic bags in case they found any suspicious evidence, all stowed in her small carry-on bag.

"Yuna, maybe we should turn back. There's a car out front." He pointed out, to both of they're disappointments.

"No, we're here already. Get down!" she whispered urgently, just as a figure came out of the double knocker front doors. It was Lyra and she took out a pair of jangling keys and hoped into the forest green truck in the driveway.

Both teenagers in the bushes held their breath as she pulled out and drove right past them. To both of their relief, she didn't see them and was soon out of sight.

"Alright, now help me out here." Yuna said as she tried to push the heavy metal gates open. They weren't locked, just old and creaky. Jason strode over and easily pushed them open, like they were made of Styrofoam.

Slowly, they snuck up the driveway and Jason used his extra senses to see if Lyra's brothers or sisters were there. When he gave the all clear Yuna eagerly charged into the place.

"It's not much different then I remember. More touched up and a little less dusty, but still mostly the same." She reminisced. "I hope they don't ruin it."

"Come on lets just hurry up and look for stuff." Jason urged. Usually he would be all for something like this, but he was getting a weird feeling from the house itself. And it wasn't just his normal human feelings, it was his unnatural powers too.

"There's two more floors so we probably should hurry, we don't know where she went." Yuna instructed. Jason nodded and headed upstairs and started searching.

Bedroom, bathroom, bedroom, study, bathroom, bookroom, bedroom, bedroom.

"_Jesus, how many bedrooms do they need if only 2 people are living here_?" he thought in exasperation. And he was only on the 2nd floor!

"Find anything?" Yuna called from down the hallway.

"No."

"Well, you go up to the 3rd floor, I'll continue looking here." She said and disappeared into one of the 1st bedrooms. Jason located the next flight of stairs and ascended, wincing every time they creaked. He knew it was just him and Yuna here right now but still.

He searched the last floor and found 3 more bedrooms and bathrooms. One of the bedrooms was filled with tons of techno stuff, but there were sports magazines everywhere so he assumed it was Lyra's brother's room. Not to mention the size of the shoes that were in the closet. Her brother had huge feet.

But that was all that he found, besides the bathroom that her brother probably used. Her sisters must have moved everything they had to where they lived now. He had searched thoroughly and had even looked through the books in the lone study he found.

The room was small and comfortable, at least for him. He hated big spaces. There was a hearty fireplace and a small desk in the corner with nothing but dust and spider webs in it's drawers. The selves contained many books, most of them in Russian, which he could read. All he found were authors from the 40's and 50's babbling about the history and architecture in the Siberian country.

When he got to the last door in the hallway, he had expected to open it up to some Gothic Wonderland with rock band posters on the walls and spiked jewelry everywhere; like Yuna's room.

But all he had found was a storage room filled with old Persian rugs, Picasso and Van Gogh paintings, a few boxes filled with delicate china and some mysterious locked metal boxes that rattled. The only things that were interesting was the shiny but ancient looking mahogany desk in stuffed in the corner by the window and a huge American Classic safe.

The desk was wonderfully crafted and had designs etched in gold on the corners and legs. There was a date on the side that said 1865, which made it even more valuable. He wondered why they had that shabby old desk in the study when they had this growing dust in a storage room.

The safe was just an ordinary safe, more modern than anything else in the room. When he tried to lift it up, her heard a little jingling from the inside. Something was in there at least. Perhaps the items in the locked boxes were going to be put in there as well, since they had SAFE written on them.

He exited the chamber and bounded down the stairs, eager to be on his way. His parents had gotten home at nearly 11 and then they had to wait for them to fall asleep. It was almost midnight now and he was starting to worry. He had taken longer then expected in searching through all of those rooms; besides, even if it was a Friday night, why would a 16 year old girl leave at 11:30 by herself?

"Yuna?" he called. The girl jumped and let out a small shriek which she silenced with a hand over her mouth.

"God, Jason you scared me. Did you find anything?"

"No; I found where her brother probably sleeps but besides that nothing."

"That sucks; hey I saw a door in between the staircases on the 1st floor! Maybe it leads to their basement! Her room could be down there couldn't it?" she half yelled hopefully.

"Well, lets hurry up and check; she will probably be home soon if she isn't already on her way back. It's 12:05!"

"Really? Okay then, lets hurry. Come on!" she grabbed his hand and they ran down the stairs and burst through the door that led to the basement.

They descended the creaky stairs and looked around. There were more bookshelves everywhere and when the books were searched, they found they were organized by year and language.

There were multiple shelves for Russian, Romanian and Gaelic books; those were more in depth and told of old interesting stories about myths and legends. The rest were in either English, French, Latin and he even found a few in Japanese and German.

"Uh…Jason. Come here." Yuna called out to him in a wary voice. He turned to see Yuna motioning for him the follow her around a bend in the room. She had a weird look on her face, like she was excited and scared at the same time. She got that look a lot.

But when he turned the corner, his face took on nearly the same composure.

Around the bend of the room along the ground and the ceiling, were huge metal beams that had to weight at least 100 lbs. They looked like they were set to match and on closer inspection, there were 2 inch wide holes in all of the beams, each about 3 inches apart. Metal rods that matched the diameter of the holes were bound together in a pile leaning against the wall.

"What do you think its for?" Yuna whispered, her fingertips ghosting across her chin; this is what she did when she was either fascinated or interested in something.

"I'm not sure…" he trailed off. What could it be for?

"Do they hunt bears or something?"

"What?" he asked, turning to his friend quizzically.

"Well, if you place those metal rods in the holes," she explained, pointing to the poles and then to the openings. "then it looks like a cage. They must have some weird pets."

Now that Jason looked at it, he realized that it would in fact make a cage. As he was wondering why they could possibly need one, he noticed the Craftsman work bench and tool chest. He walked over and opened up the drawers. Inside were all the tools any craftsman could possibly want: screwdrivers, hammers, different sized nails, wrenches, measuring tapes, electric tools. There were plastic wrapped packages filled with Styrofoam boards riddled with holes. They looked like bullet molds…

"Jason can we go?" Yuna whined, already bored.

"Hold on. Do you have that camera?" he asked. He had found something interesting.

"Yeah, why?" she asked, handing him the small digital box.

"I found this." He said and spread out the big piece of planning paper.

The paper was covered with scribbles and elaborate drawings. It was a plan for the cage.

"Why is half in Russian and half in English?" Yuna asked, more disturbed by the fact that it was half and half instead of the fact that it was probably Lyra who had written it.

"I don't know." He replied, snapping some up close pictures.

"Hold on a minute." She said and reached into her pocket to pull out a small piece of paper. She held it up to the plan so Jason could see what it was: it was the slip of paper that Lyra had written her phone number and email on. Jason grabbed it and put it down next to the cell plan; the writing was a match.

"Come on, we should go I don't think we should stay anymore." He couldn't help but let the worry seep into his voice. If he was wary of this girl before…

They bounded up the steps and had just shut the door when headlights flashed through the crack in the curtains. Of course.

"Shit!" they both cursed loudly. They looked for a back door, but at the moment there were boxes in front of it so they couldn't move them.

"Come on!" Jason grabbed Yuna's hand and he dragged her up the steps and up to the 2nd floor. There had been another door downstairs; maybe it was her room, if they were lucky. They reached the third floor and hid in a closet at the end of the hallway, just to be safe.

Thumping could be heard down on the 1st floor, then they started going up to the 2nd floor. Then to Jason and Yuna's horrified disbelief, the steps continued up to the 3rd floor.

Using his inhuman speed, Jason yanked them out of the closet and behind a heavy curtain next to the end of the hallway. He had expected a wall or a window, but instead he stumbled into a hallway. The thumping stopped and he could her a door open.

"Jalis?" a soft voice called. She must have opened the door to his room.

Jason lifted Yuna up the stairs and they came to a particular looking door. He flung it open quietly and lunged inside, shutting it just as silently. Yuna gasped.

It was like the magazine version of every Gothic girl's dreams. There were posters of bands and movies just like he had guessed. A mattress lay on the floor with no frame and was covered with dark purple sheets under a Nightmare Before Christmas comforter. A Jack Skellington pillow lay in the middle.

A dresser that was about a foot tall rested in between the bed and a bean bag chair. A laptop was charging on it alongside a Hello Batty alarm clock. The thing that interested him the most was the paints set next to the closet that Yuna had opened and was riffling through with an amazed look on her face.

There were paintings of everything he could imagine; drawings too. There were sunsets, sunrises, full moons, animals, city scenes and even one of a golf course at night. He was so caught up in the wonder works of art that he didn't hear the footsteps coming up the stairs they just had.

"Crap!" he thought and yanked Yuna out onto the balcony ledge, where he instinctively balanced and then jumped up onto the roof with his friend in his arms. Just seconds later, Lyra came out onto the terrace and looked around. After shrugging, she headed back inside and started to undress, so he quickly jumped off the rooftop and into a surrounding tree.

* * *

"I can't believe we almost got caught!" Yuna piped as she was coming in through his bedroom window.

"I can't believe you actually got me to go with you! What do you think Lyra would have done if she had caught us? We don't know her well enough for her to just let us off the hook for breaking and entering into her house!" he replied curtly.

"Well, we didn't get caught, so she never has to know. Besides we got what we went for." Yuna said and pulled out a leather bound diary from her bag with a triumphant smile.

"You didn't…" Jason started, but couldn't help grinning himself.

"Come on, lets read it! I can get those pictures developed tomorrow when I go to the mall with her. She won't see them so it'll be perfect!" she half shrieked her 'brilliant plan', practically bouncing with excitement.

"Yuna, can I please go to bed? You make be all keyed up, but I'm exhausted. We can look at it tomorrow." He said and grabbed his pajamas to change into.

"Fine, be that way. But I'm going to read it!" she yelled.

"Fine." He replied, and headed to the bathroom across the hall to get ready for some much needed sleep.

* * *

Yuna, yuna, yuna. gosh she is so irritating. the next chapter will be up in the usual 4 days and i think its in Lyra's POV. reviews! :D

-cally (^o^)


	7. Relations

_**CHAPTER SEVEN: RELATIONS **_

Okay peeps here is the mighty 7! (It's my favorite number teehee; sorry if everything has a 7 in it). Just a little something I would like to say: later on there is a reference to the city Fresno when they actually go there. I haven't been to Fresno personally (and it is a real town in California. I also have no knowledge about it.) So I just made up the directions to there since Guiden is a made up town. Just a little hint so I don't get people yelling at me for it XD

DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN THE CATERGORY, BUT I DO OWN MY STORY. CUZ, U KNOW, IT'S MINE.

* * *

It was 10:30 when Lyra woke up. She had slept soundly last night after coming home from a late midnight trip to Serena's new place. No dreams or anything, just comfortable blankness.

She sat up with a massive yawn and lifted her arms up, arching her back in a cat stretch. Jogging downstairs, she plopped some eggs in a frying pan for a fried egg sandwich.

When it was done along with the bacon, she munched away ravenously and chugged her milk. She was supposed to meet up with Yuna at noon and she would be busy with her cage tomorrow, so she really wanted to get her homework done.

"Jalis? Are you awake?" she called and opened his bedroom door. Sure enough, there he was; asleep on his bed still fully clothed. "You're such a dork." She whispered and ruffled his hair to wake him up. "I'm going to be leaving in a while so you better get up and eat your breakfast before it gets cold."

"Sure…" he mumbled and rolled onto his stomach, slowing falling asleep again.

"_Stubborn kid_." She thought in amusement, even thought _technically_ he was older then her.

Walking back to her room, she dug out her books from her Slipknot carry bag backpack and started the awful invention called homework. Who ever thought 'hey we should make everybody go through problems they already know for an hour' should be shot, in her opinion. But then again, she was kind of a violent and impatient person.

By the time she finished, it was 11:30 so she quickly and gleefully threw the books aside and ran to the bathroom to take a shower. She blow dried her hair and pulled half of it up into a bun, little curly strands framing her bright face. With delight she noticed that the dark circles under her eyes had gotten far lighter then they had been at the beginning of the week. Ironically, she had thought that the opposite would happen.

This day was starting off good.

She headed back to her small and happily claustrophobic room then was stumped when she looked in her closet. What was she supposed to wear?

The weather app on her IPod had said that it was supposed to be super nice weather today; the kind for frolicking in meadows and heading out for golfing all day. A perfect day for finally being able to sit by that pond in the front yard under the gorgeous willow tree and draw.

But instead she stuck to her plans; perhaps she could sneak a good hour or two after her little outing with Yuna. And hopefully Jason.

Finally, Lyra decided on a black lasagna strap corset that had a strip of white lace up the front and black criss-crossing strings on top of that. An all black skirt with lace trimming on the handkerchief style hem and a pair of black high heel boots with a wrap around zipper covered her legs. To complete the outfit she added white lace fingerless gloves that went to her wrist and a silver and onyx choker.

She was ready to rock.

* * *

Lyra arrived at the address Yuna had texted to her minutes after she received it. Her house wasn't hard to find; almost everybody in this town lived on the same long street that led to the highway out of town.

The house was cute; it was painted a dark blue color with black shingles and white painted windows. There was a porch that spanned the front of the house on the 1st level and led to the door. Flowers were planted everywhere; purple, yellow, red and blue. And pink. Lots of pink.

If Lyra hadn't the number of the house, she would have thought there was no way anybody even remotely Goth could live here. But then again, her parents were probably in charge of the houses appearance.

Lyra stepped out of the car and walked along the brightly colored path that led to the door. The click of her heels in the silence surrounding the house almost made her uneasy. But then she finally reached the front door and rang the doorbell twice.

A small woman with short brown hair answered, her blue eyes widening when she saw what was on her doorstep. She was covered in dirt and by the garden gloves she was wearing she had been working on some more plants for their house. But to Lyra's surprise her gaze held no kindness or recognition; they even seemed unfriendly.

"Who are you?" she asked her voice curt and rude.

"My name's Lyra-"she started but was interrupted with the women yelling into the house behind her.

"Kyle, this better not be another one of your girls at our door!" she shouted, turning her icy glare back to Lyra. What did she mean by 'another one of your girls'? Did strange woman usually show up at their door?

A man came up behind her now, he being just a little taller then his wife. Lyra recognized him as Kyle Dawnson, the man who ran the Country Club and who was Yuna's adoptive father. This must be her adoptive mother Georgia.

"Oh, yeah I know you." He alleged, looking her over almost uncomfortably.

"Kyle! You said you would stop with all the whore nonsense!" Georgia screamed in his face and took her gloves off to smack him with them.

"Whore?" Lyra cried with an incredulous look on her face. Whore? She wasn't dressed that badly!

Thankfully, Yuna then descended the stairs while her parents were yelling at each other, completely oblivious to the furious girl behind them.

"Whoa, what's all the hubbub about?" she asked Lyra, who had her mouth hanging open.

"They just called me a whore!" she yelled and pointed to Yuna's parents, who stopped fighting when they saw their daughter there.

"Ah man. Guys this is my friend Lyra; the one I told you about. We have plans today remember?" she said sullenly. Her mother's eyes widened and then became horrorstruck as they trained themselves on Lyra, who just raised her eyebrows and tilted her head slightly to the side.

"Oh…oh my! Dear girl I am so sorry! I thought…we've just…been having some problems lately. Oh, please come in, come in." she ushered and nearly pulled Lyra into the house. "I really am sorry about that; why don't we start over?" She asked nervously.

"Sure." Lyra replied, giving both of the parents a wary glance. The dad was still staring at her uncomfortably.

"I'm Georgia Dawnson and this is my husband Kyle. We own the local Country Club and are Yuna's _adoptive_ parents." Lyra noticed how she put their business before their daughter and how she emphasized the word 'adoptive'.

"I'm Lyra Valaryous." She said, offering her black finger nailed hand. Her mother took it after a moment of speculation on her clothing. There was a subdued look of distaste in her eyes. "So, do you want to go?" she asked, turning to Yuna this time. She didn't particularly like this people.

"Sure. Let me go get ready though. I overslept this morning." She said apologetically.

"Okay."

Yuna ran up the stairs, leaving Lyra alone with her parents in an awkward silence. She pursed her lips and looked down at her boots, not knowing what to say or how to act. She was still slightly infuriated by the fact that they had mistaken her for some kind of prostitute or something. What the heck happened around here with her dad?

"Tell her I'll be waiting in the car." She finally announced, the awkwardness getting to her. Usually with her in the room there was no such thing as an awkward moment because she always had something to talk about. But this situation was a little different then gathering up with a group of people she knew.

Lyra waited in the car for a good 10 or 15 minutes before Yuna finally bounced out after a short conversation with her parents that didn't look the friendliest.

She was clad in a elephant bottomed black skirt with chains attached to the belt line and a Bob Marley shirt. She wore her usual clunky high-platform combat boots, colored hair extensions and spiked wrist bands.

"Lets go; I don't really want to stay here right now." She said, sounding angry as she entered the sparkly purple car.

"Yeah…" Lyra agreed and drove the car in the opposite way of the house and down towards the town square. "So where are we headed to first?" she asked cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well, the only actual shops here are built right behind the grocery store. It's a stupid layout, I don't know why they did that." She said with a thoughtful twist of her mouth. Lyra laughed.

When they reached the inner shops of the town square Lyra found that there were only a few: a sports goods store, a car rental, a small furniture store and a few clothes stores.

They mobbed the clothes stores, picking out anything that was black or dark in color. Lyra ended up leaving with a dark red tank top that have knitted designs on the front and a flowey dark green skirt that reached halfway to her knees. Yuna picked out a skirt that for once wasn't dragging on the floor and 2 pairs of tights. After some hesitation she let Lyra pay for all of it and they headed to a fast food place for some shakes and fries.

"So what else is there?" Lyra asked, sipping on her caramel malt and nibbling her fries.

"Well, the movie theater is down at the other end of town at the end of me and Jason's street along with some restaurants. But that end doesn't get very much business." She explained.

"Wait, you and Jason live on the same street?" she asked. No wonder they were so close.

"Yeah, but his house is kind of off the road a bit. You can still see it from the road, but his dad doesn't mow the lawn very often so it's pretty much like a jungle over there, which doesn't really help." She joked, laughing at her observations. Lyra laughed too and was secretly pleased that she had found out one more thing about him.

"Wow, its 2:00; time went by fast. Is there any particular time you need to be home?" Lyra asked. Yuna's parents didn't really seem to like her so she didn't want to give them another reason, not to mention getting Yuna in trouble.

"Nah, my parents don't really care. As long as I come back its all good; trust me, I've fallen asleep at Jason's before and they didn't even yell at me when I came back." She laughed, shaking her head from side to side.

"…You and Jason have sleepovers? And your parents let you?" she asked in an astounded voice; sure they were best friends but they were opposite genders and that usually was reason enough for a no sleepover policy with parents.

"Well, it's not like we plan them. If one of us falls asleep at the others house it's not that big of a deal with our parents. They know we won't 'do anything' and I'm absolutely positive that Jason doesn't like me that way. And I'm dead sure I don't like him that way."

"Oh…"

"Do you think that's weird?" Yuna inquired.

"No! I mean maybe a little I guess…it's just that in my experience I can't even be in the same house as a guy that isn't Jalis."

"What? Who's Jalis?"

"Sorry, Jalis is my brother. Well another adoptee I guess." She snickered. "But when he would have friends' sleepover, I would either have to go somewhere or he would have to go over to their house. Usually his sleepovers were just for school stuff or work stuff but still, Serena knows I'm a little touchy with that kind of thing. It's not like I'm totally against it, if they aren't sleeping in my room its fine. But being the over protective freak that she is, Serena wouldn't allow it. She may only be a few years older then him, but he's scared to death of her." Lyra explained.

"That's awesome." Yuna giggled at her friend's last comment. "I guess I see your point but our situation is a little different."

"How?"

"Well…hmmm how should I say this? Okay so you know how most people prefer the opposite gender right? There are those people, people who curve off the road, people who go both ways and people who go backwards. Jason pretty much goes backwards, as in he holds no attraction for anybody. Seriously, I remember one time when we went to a restaurant with our parents and we had a really hot waitress and both our dad's were staring, along with all the other men there. She was totally flirting with Jason but he just ignored her. In fact, went we left, he said she had been annoying and immodest. It was hilarious." She explained with a smirk on her face as she finished off the burger and fries she had gotten.

"Wow, that's…interesting. I did notice how a lot of girls stare at him at school, even the popular ones. It's a little creepy."

"Yeah, well he is pretty cute. So you see my point when our parents don't worry about us together. The only people I've seen him show that kind of affection for is…eh never mind." She said mischievously.

"Aw, come one. What?"

"Well, to be honest, the only person I've seen him show that kind of affection towards is you. He has never taken so well to a new person so quickly. It's kind of amusing to watch."

Lyra sat in stunned silence, nearly gawking at Yuna who was sipping her soda and looking around innocently.

"R-really?" she stuttered. That couldn't be possible; he always ignored and barely spoke to her.

"Sure. It may not seem like it but if you know someone as well as I know him, then you'd notice too. For instance, even when he's talking to me, he doesn't really look me in the eyes, he just looks down or around or something. But with you he gets and serious and smiley. Just the other day when I mentioned your name he smiled; that's got to mean something doesn't it?"

Lyra just sat there in perplexed silence while Yuna dumped her food and started talking about something else. Jason liked her? It sure as heck didn't seem like it. He was a rather odd person so maybe that had something to do with it, but how is ignoring and infuriating someone conscious and subconsciously a way of showing affection?

"Lyra?" she heard Yuna ask.

"I'm sorry what?" she replied, embarrassed the space trip she'd just been on.

"I just asked if you wanted to go somewhere else. If you don't mind, could we maybe stop by Fresno? I have some photos I need to get copied and that's the nearest place with a shop." She explained in an amused voice, like she was enjoying some inside joke. Or maybe she had guessed the reason for Lyra's little thought session.

"Oh, sure. Yeah of course."

"Are you sure? If you have something else to do…"

"Are you kidding me, Fresno is like 20 minutes away. It not problem." She said with a smile.

They dumped the rest of their trash, grabbed their bags and barreled down the street to the highway with Slipknot blasting from the speakers.

* * *

next chappie will be up in the usual times. chapters will be getting shorter so look for that. i'm tired, so i'm curt. reviews people, reviews.

-cally (^o^)


	8. Fresno

_**CHAPTER 8: FRESNO**_

Okay, so I realized after reviewing the last chapter that my chapters have been super long on this site. When I type them on MW they are only 7 or 8 pages which seems short but I guess not so I'm going to try to make them shorter. I know as a person who gets headaches a lot that staring at a bright cpu screen for a long time can be painful so apologies to fellow headache getters and peeps with glasses. Anyways, this chapter Yuna and Lyra continue their little spree. I'll plan for a better chapter split next time :D

DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN, STILL TIRED FROM LAST CHAPPIE.

* * *

"This is the right way right? I haven't been able to get down to Fresno before this." Lyra asked, turning to look at her new Gothic friend in the passenger seat.

"Yep, just turn onto highway 74 when it comes up and it will take you right through to Fresno. It's a much bigger town then Guiden and has a lot more things to do. There's a roller skating rink there that I used to hang out at before I met Jason. It's actually pretty fun. Unless you're a horrible skater, then it just sucks because it's more of a grownup skating rink then a kid one. Hey we should go sometime! I'd love to see Jason try." She mused.

"One plan at a time please. Is this the turn?" she asked when she saw a sign half covered by tree branches along the rocky cliff they were driving on.

"Yep. Fresno is about 5 minutes in." Yuna directed.

When they had been driving for about 5 minutes like Yuna said, Lyra started to notice things. Trees and vegetation were sparse but not in a desert way, speed limit and business signs were showing up more frequently and finally she saw the first building.

This town was far more modern then Guiden and that was saying something. Every building had automatic doors and a parking lot; there were stop lights at every intersection whereas in Guiden there were hardly any. Even most of the cars were new Saturn's or Mustangs.

"The photo shop is around the corner at the next right." Yuna instructed.

The photo shop was also surprising; it wasn't just a photo shop, but a pharmacy, grocery and cosmetics store as well. Like an upgraded Walgreen's.

"I need these printed out." Yuna said bluntly, holding out a camera chip.

"How many and what size would you like?" the brunette clerk asked.

"All of the ones that are on there and make them all 8x10 please. How much will it be and what time can I pick them up?" she asked impatiently.

"Hold on." The clerk went around a wall and did something with the photos, as they were gone when he came back. "That will be $23.92 for all 8 in 8x10 size. You can pick them up between 3:50 and 7:30; otherwise we will have to terminate your order."

"Alright. See you in a couple hours then." She said perkily after giving the clerk the money. He just gave her a disinterested nod in return.

"So, where to now? We minus well stay here until then." Lyra asked.

"Well…at the big shopping mall, there's a Café Press and a Hot Topic…" she said persuasively.

"Then of course I'm in." Lyra said linking their arms together while they strutted out humorously from the photo shop like Gothic runway stars.

They were both in heaven as they entered the huge mall. There were more people then they would have liked but nonetheless, the place was awesome. In the middle of the center square there was a big fountain next to a kids' playground. Shops lined the wide hallways in between. There was every shop imaginable; furniture, sports, antique shops, books, electronics, health departments and most importantly the eatery and the clothes stores.

Yuna dragged her down the hallway on her right and immediately she saw the bright red and dark black sign for Hot Topic. They were greeted by a female cashier with multicolored dreadlocks, pierced eyebrows and a Wicked Wicca's t-shirt who greeted them like movie stars instead of potential thieves, like Lyra's past experiences.

"We have lots of stuff on sale so just ask if you have any questions."

They raced off around the store, picking out things for each other and trying things on. Lyra made Yuna try on shorter skirts then the ones she had and some high heels. She liked the skirts but said there was no way in hell that she would wear high heels, much to Lyra's disappointment. They weren't that bad, she wore them all the time. But then again her feet didn't get all achy and gnarly after wearing them a lot.

Yuna was absolutely in love with a pair of non-platform Doc Martens, but nearly had a stroke when she saw the price. Lyra agreed to pay half for them, but only if Yuna got something that wasn't so tomboyish and clunky. After much hesitation and persuasion on Lyra's part, Yuna finally gave in.

Lyra was modeling a plain black corset that went behind her neck and Tripp black chain pants when Yuna came running back from a call on her cell phone.

"How do I look?" she inquired, spinning around.

"Awesome. You should totally wear that to school on Monday. Are you going to get that one too?" she asked, pointing to the magenta corset with black lace designs and X-crossing on the sides.

"Maybe. I'm not sure. I don't really have anything that color though…" muttered dubiously.

"I think you should. Not many people have figure like yours so it looks super good."

"Okay! Hey, we should head over to Café Press next; I've only seen that place on the Internet."

"Sure thing."

Lyra headed back into the dressing room to change back into her own clothes, excited about her future purchases.

"So who was that on the phone?" she called out from the small space.

"Just Jason. He wanted to know if I wanted to come over for awhile since his parents are taking Keya out."

"Keya is their new baby right?"

"Yeah, her full name is Keyara, but they just call her Keya. It's an Irish name because her ma is from Ireland." she said, thinking about inviting Lyra to Jason's too. It would be a good way for them to bond not to mention her too.

Despite what she had seen in Lyra's house, she was still eager to be friends and hanging out in a calm environment after a day of shopping was a good way to start.

"When do you want to go to his house?" Lyra asked as she came out of the stall and gave the friendly cashier her merchandise.

"I guess when we're done here. Hey you should wear that." She said, pointing to the pink and black corset. "It looks too good on you to stay in a bag."

"It really does." The cashier added with a stunningly white smile.

"Okay…" she said hesitantly. She slipped into the shirt then came out, earning applause from Yuna.

"Lets go!"

They combed Café Press where Yuna got a few things and Lyra only got some black fishnet gloves to match her new ensemble. They also checked out the electronics store and to Lyra's great surprise, they had the new The Gazette CD that she enthusiastically bought.

"You like The Gazette?" she asked. Lyra shook her head wildly.

"I love their music. I translate most of it but it still sounds cool. Do you know them?"

"Of course I know them, I'm from Japan remember? Their songs are pretty sweet. Looks like we have another thing in common." She said with a grin.

After that, they walked back to the photo store to get Yuna's photos, which were handed to her with a fake smile and a 'have a good day ma'am'.

"So what are the photos for?" Lyra asked curiously when they were driving out of the city limits.

"Nothing, just some stupid flower pictures my mom wanted. She's into the whole scrap booking thing and garden clubs so what can you expect?" she joked.

"You'll have to tell me where to drop you off; I don't know where Jason's house is."

"Don't be silly; your coming too." She stated matter-of-factly.

"I don't think I was invited. Besides, it's his house he should be the one to invite people over." She critiqued. She did want to go really badly, but she wanted to make sure she was welcome.

"Well, technically it's his parents house and screw what he wants, I'm taking you." She concluded, giving Lyra no room for complaints afterwards.

As they drove closer and closer to Yuna's house, finally she pointed out a driveway that was made of dirt and admittedly hard to see, even for Lyra. Yuna had been right; the forest did look like a jungle and trees surrounded the average sized house almost completely obscured the view from the road.

The house was warm and pleasant looking, a few vines working their way up the sides. It was painted a light beige with oval windows in a slightly darker shade and brown shingles. It looked fairly old; like it was from the 1920's or around there. A wrap around porch went around the entire perimeter of the house and she could see a small balcony like that of her own room poking out of the second floor.

Yuna walked up to the front door and knocked while Lyra stood shadowed behind her with her hands clasped at the small of her back. Jason opened the door and her breath almost caught.

His midnight hair seemed more wild then usual which made him all the more attractive and his eyes seemed brighter, if possible. He wore a patterned black shirt under a gray elbow length button up that was open. His long legs were clad in regular blue jeans and gray socks. A black wrist band that said H.I.M was around his right while a strange chain was around the left.

"Hey Yuna." He greeted. Then his eyes widened a little when he was Lyra standing behind her. "Lyra…I didn't know you were coming too." He said, shocked.

"Well, Yuna kind of-"she started.

"We had plans today, duh! I didn't want her to just drop me off here when she knows you too. That would be rude." She said, nearly sounding smug.

"I can leave if it isn't okay for me to be here when you're parents are gone…" she mumbled, feeling awkward and out of place. She crossed her arms protectively then quickly uncrossed them when she realized what that would make the corset do to her chest.

"_Damn_ _you Yuna, you wanted me to wear this just for that reason didn't you_?" she thought sardonically.

"No, that's okay, come in." he said almost cheerfully. He stepped aside and held the door open for her politely after Yuna had just walked through. Then he smiled at her. She smiled back and walked up the steps, her high heels clicking on the light colored wood.

"So what did you girls do today? There aren't many things in this town." He asked.

"I showed her around and then we went to the Fresno mall. She got that shirt and some pretty awesome other stuff too." She added and pointed to Lyra's shiny top.

"It looks nice." He responded, looking like he was trying not to stare at her. He was obviously failing and Lyra cursed Yuna again in her mind.

"So what are we doing?" Lyra asked pleasantly before the silence reached awkward level.

"Well, the plan was that Yuna and I were going to go see Devil at the drive in theater because they finally are playing a new release movie. But if you don't want to we can find something else…"

"Are you kidding, I wanted to see that movie earlier but then we moved and I was too busy. If you don't mind, I'd love to come."

"Would you two stop with the doubtful polite act already? Your coming and you won't complain." Yuna interrupted sternly, pointing at both of them.

"Okay…" the said in unison.

"We can take my car." Lyra offered. She didn't want to think about how they would all fit on Jason's bike.

"If you have a car you have to pay for a spot. We can take his bike." Yuna corrected, pointing to Jason again. His face became perplexed.

"Don't I get a say who I pedal across town?"

"No." the ravenette said automatically. Lyra laughed a quiet musical laugh.

"Alright well we better go then. I may be fast but I'm not as fast a car. The movie starts at 6 and its 5:30."

Jason lead them outside and got his bike out of the garage while the two girls got their purses out of the car.

"Alright, Lyra you can sit on the handle bars and Yuna can ride on back."

"The handle bars? Are you kidding?" she asked, mortified.

"That or on this bar." He said awkwardly, tapping the metal rod connecting the handle bar and the seat. She chose the handlebars without hesitation this time.

Then they were whizzing off, faster then she would have thought possible for one bike with three people on it, toward the movie drive-in.

Surprisingly, the drive-in was crowded. In an old town like this, a drive-in was all they could afford so Lyra thought that it would barely even have the staff. But a lot of familiar faces were there, including Mr. Ferguson the local grocery bagger and Erin Somer, the much hated football player.

"Jerk at twelve o'clock." She pointed out. Jason visibly started fuming from just looking at him. So much in fact that Lyra started to get worried. "Hey, lets just go get food and find somewhere to sit." She said, touching his bicep gently. It was much more hard and muscular to touch then how it looked.

"So what do you guys want?" Yuna asked, probably as a distraction.

"Do they have root beer?" Lyra inquired, pulling Jason up to the food booth.

"Yes. I get it every time so they better." Jason added in.

"Two root beers, medium popcorn, a sprite and 2 Twislers please. That's what you wanted right? A root beer?" Yuna turned to Lyra.

"Yeah root beer is fine." After a minute of waiting they grabbed their snacks and sat down in a back corner, but getting a good view of the screen too. Then Lyra was aware that she was still holding Jason's arm and quickly yanked her hand away.

"I'll be right back; we gotta go cheese this baby up!" Yuna chirped and ran back to the stand to dump cheese powder on the tub of popcorn.

"She's so funny." Lyra said randomly. She wasn't expecting Jason to reply.

"You get used to it; she really is a nice girl." He said, munching on his Twislers. She reminded him of a bird.

"Pteetsa." She blurted out loud, covering her mouth with her hand afterwards. She didn't mean to speak her mind.

"Um…what?" he asked, giving her a strange look.

"Sorry…it's just that you eat like a bird and I just thought of one and pteetsa is the word for bird in Russian…" she stammered.

"…You call people animal names in Russian?"

"I'm trying to stop because I know it annoys people; I call Jalis mishonak because he eats like a mouse. It's pretty funny to watch actually."

"That's a strange habit."

"One of many, believe me." Jason laughed loudly now, hearty and sweet.

"I'm sure." He said with a smile in his voice. She liked this new side of him that she was seeing.

Then the lights went dark and the film started. Apparently it was about some people who were trapped in an elevator with the devil but they didn't know who it was. Every time somebody died or something Yuna would jump, Lyra would gasp at the goriness and Jason would laugh.

While Yuna was engrossed with the film, Lyra realized that every time she gasped she would grab onto Jason reflexively. He didn't seem to mind and didn't say anything about it but a few times she caught him staring at her with a strange look.

Occasionally when there was a part that wasn't quite so gory or violent, they would add in their own commentary and crack up, falling over on the ground. People looked over at them and some even shushed them, which made it all the more funny.

"Why do you laugh when someone dies?" Lyra asked after the lights flickered in the elevator and then a guy's neck appeared twisted several times around.

"Because I've seen much worse." He said without thinking. Lyra's eyes widened. "You know, in movies. Yuna likes the gory ones and I don't really care what kind of movies I watch." He added, covering his slip up. He had seen worse. He'd _been_ worse.

"You two seem really close." She commented.

"Yeah, she was my first friend here and I think I was hers. She's had some pretty rough times."

"Look…I know I probably shouldn't ask and I wouldn't dream of asking Yuna, but what the heck happens with her dad? When I showed up at their house, her mother started yelling at him for 'bringing home girls'…"

"…Her dad had some problems. All that money they make from the Club was getting to his head so he would go out a lot. Usually he would stay out really late and eventually he brought home a girl when he was really hammered. They…er…'had some fun' as he calls it right in his bedroom, which is right next to Yuna's. Her mom walked in then but he still kept on doing all that crap. A lot of nights Yuna would come over crying and she would stay the night." He explained gravely. Lyra was silent and was glad it was another loud gory scene because then Yuna couldn't hear them.

"Wow…"

"Was there a reason for your curiosity?" he asked.

"Her mom kind of…mistook me for a 'girl'. That was why she was yelling at him."

"Oh…well just for future reference, ignore her mother. She's a total fruit loop, she even did a few years in an institution before she got married. I think Kyle pushed her close to that edge again."

"Fruit loop?" Lyra asked, laughing.

"Why are you guys talking about cereal, the movie is getting to the good part!" Yuna leaned over and whispered.

"Sorry." They both said.

They watched the climax of the movie for the next 15 minutes and then it was over.

"That was interesting." Jason commented when they were getting his bike up off the ground to head home.

"It was stupid. I mean, for once the effects were pretty decent, but still, halfway through the movie you knew who the Devil was." Lyra exclaimed.

"It was awesome! I am so buying that movie when it comes out!" Yuna yelled, scaring a few passerbies.

Jason rode them back to his house, where they said short goodbyes and Lyra drove Yuna home. She was talking about the movie the whole time, blabbering away about all the 'awesome deaths' and the creepy grandma.

"I'll see you on Monday." Lyra said as Yuna got out of the car. She got an enthusiastic grin in return before Yuna bounced away into her house.

* * *

"How was your girl's day?" Jalis asked.

"It was fun. I got this new shirt and some other stuff." She said, twirling around to flash her new shiny pink corset.

"Wow. That looks really nice. What else did you get?"

"I'll show you tomorrow. I'm super tired. Again."

"Don't forget you have to finish your cage tomorrow." He warned as she trudged up the stairs.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Lyra walked into her room and disrobed quickly, snuggling into the warmth of her Nightmare Before Christmas blanket.

She had been dozing for about 5 minutes when she rolled over and something pricked her skin. She looked to the side questioningly and found a pin on her mattress.

"_When did I get this?_" she thought, looking at the small piece in wonder. It was the type of pin that you would stick to your purse or something.

It had a picture of a Barbie doll with arrow through her head and the words DEATH TO BARBIE in pink letters. She didn't know where it came from but she liked it.

Smiling, she reached over to her Slipknot carrier bag and pinned it to the front flap, where the label of the actual band was just barely readable from all the other pins.

Suddenly feeling totally exhausted, she zonked out within seconds, her hand still outstretched and touching the mystery pin.

* * *

Okay, I know I didn't really keep my promise about keeping the chapters after 7 short with this chapter, but 7 and 8 were originally in the same chapter so those two were kinda a last minute thing. But I will make the next ones shorter I promise; I planned them to be shorter. Hooray!

Also, the stuff from the movie Devil is just stuff my friend told me so sorry if it spoiled the movie for some of you or i got it wrong. same with the Russian stuff, but i'm guessing its alright cuz theres nothing better then a friend whos actually from Russia to help you with a Russian character! wish i could say the same for Jason and Yuna tho. that would so awesome if i knew anybody like that! ^-^

Review, comment or PM me if you want to say something! :D

-cally (^o^)


	9. Cornered

_**CHAPTER 9: CORNERED **_

Okay! ANNOUNCEMENT! So I'm writing two stories right now and a side one for my friend, not to mention it's close to the end of the school trimester, so I don't exactly have a lot of time on my hands. So the updates will be slower now and if I get complaints about the updates, then I'm not going to reply just because someone didn't read this. And for crip's sake people, if you have ANYTHING to say about me or my stories, say it in a review, not a PM 'cause it's getting reeeeally annoying!

Anyways, read, review and enjoy! :D

DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN UNDERWORLD. STILL.

* * *

Tuesday. The day after the most horrid and boring day of the week. Usually Jason would rejoice because it was one day closer to the weekend and much beloved Friday. But after school he had that pesky detention to go to and getting closer to the end of the week was NOT something he wanted to happen fast. Because on Friday, he had a date. With Natasha. The annoying, self-centered vampiress who had been pestering him for a century about Friday.

Jason groaned and pushed himself up out of bed, vaguely noticing when he broke his alarm clock to pieces when he hit the OFF button. He went through his daily routine of getting dressed and picking up Yuna with their coffees, wishing for literally the thousandth time that he could sleep in.

"You're usually not so sluggish in the mornings." Lyra commented when she came and sat by them 10 minutes before the bell for 1st hour rang. Jason could see that she had become friends with Steve Moore, son of their English teacher, and Kida Kovnatzky, a Latvian girl.

"I know. I think you guys wore me out on Saturday." He whined, letting his head fall down onto his arms on the table top.

"Oh please, that was like 3 days ago." She chided. He didn't reply. "You were fine yesterday, did something happen?"

"I don't know. I guess its just one of those days."

Yuna started talking about something girlish to Lyra until the 2 minute warning bell sounded.

Jason warred through his classes, falling asleep in History (who wouldn't?) and jerking awake when the bell rang. At the end of the day, he was even more tired then before, something that would probably get him in trouble in his detention seminar.

Two more hours of boredom passed after school, where juveniles threw paper balls at each other and the teacher yelled at them, to no affect. Graciously, people steered clear of him as a paper target, probably due to the fact that he was sitting in the corner glaring off into space the whole time.

But thanks to Erin Somer, he had time to think. About school, life, Lyra and possible excuses to cut his date with Natasha short.

Before he knew it, it was Thursday, the day before his date. He had come up with several enticing ideas about the Natasha situation before she would come back around. And there was another problem that he really hadn't considered before. English.

Usually it was his favorite class because he liked the teacher and Yuna and Lyra were in it with him now. But Mr. Moore decided that they should suffer more in school then they did already so he threw the 'Big Baby' at them.

"You all knew it was coming." The man scolded when the whole class, including Jason, started whining and complaining. "You all have read _Romeo and Juliet_ and _Hamlet _so it shouldn't be so bad. You'll all be writing an at least 8 page essay on Shakespearean Language through answering one of the prompts on the sheet I handed out. You have until the end of the trimester so take your time, this thing counts for a lot of your grade."

"Yes Ms. Dawnson?" he asked when Yuna raised her hand.

"Why does it have to be so long? Seriously, how can _1_ person write _8_ pages on something stupid like old day language?" she complained and elicited angry agreement from most of the rest of the class.

"That's another thing: it will be in MLA format, I won't accept it any other way. So technically it only has to be 4 pages long." He explained with a cheeky smile, as if that was any better.

Everyone groaned even louder, but perked up when the next words left his mouth.

"To help you with this we will be visiting the Literature Museum in Fresno in two weeks. Some of you still need to get the slip signed by a parent, so get that done ASAP." He continued on, each word getting more boring then the next.

Thankfully, just 2 minutes after Mr. Moore went into a lecture about how they were 'all grownups and could handle typing a measly 4 page paper in almost 3 months', the bell rang for 4th hour and lunch.

"Thank god! I was falling asleep. I don't get why everybody complains so much, at least he's not making it like 10 or 15 pages!" Lyra exclaimed as they stopped to talk to them before she went off to lunch.

"Are you kidding? Writing papers sucks! How are we supposed to write _8_ _freaking pages _on either 'how does the language differ from language today?' and crap like that?" Yuna fumed, her tiny fists balling so her spiked leather bracelet almost fell off.

"You could compare it to Japanese or something, I'm sure you'll do good on that. At least it will most likely be different from everybody else's papers. And Jason, you could compare to Greek roots and stuff. That would be cool."

"I suppose. I should probably go, there's 3 minutes until class and my locker is on the other side of school." He turned around and trudged away, his back slightly hunched.

"What's up with him? He's been acting super moody lately." He heard Lyra ask the ravenette beside her.

"I asked him about it and apparently something big is going down tomorrow and he doesn't want it to. He didn't tell me what. I should probably go too though…" she muttered back.

Jason smiled, turning back to catch Lyra's violet eyes before going to his 4 hour Gym period. All hour, as he whooped Erin Somer's ass in a bad mitten game, he thought about the silver haired girl.

She seemed so…different. Not in a bad way, but the way she dressed, the way she acted, even the way she talked was different. She was quick to defend anybody but never criticized, helpful but strict, humorous but intelligent and kind. It seemed whenever somebody thought how she would react, it would be the opposite and nobody could guess what she would do next.

Apparently that afternoon, Erin Somer decided to test that theory.

It had become normal for Yuna to wait by Lyra's locker after school, since they both had rides attached to a bike rack. They would chat as Jason stood idly aside, arms crossed and face blank.

"I'll be right back; I have to go ask the office peeps something." Lyra said when they started for the school's side exit. Once again, Jason laughed internally at her choice of words.

Yuna and him walked out towards the bike rack and he undid the chain as they waited. They made small talk on all the big movies that were coming out, deciding which they were going to see as they waited. But eventually they had been standing there for 10 minutes and they both knew _nothing_ in the office took _that_ long.

"I'll go see what's taking so long." Jason said, irritation making itself more prominent as he stalked through the halls for the black clad form of his new friend.

What he saw when he got a few rows away from her locker was an unexpected sight.

Erin Somer had Lyra pressed up against the wall, an arm stretched out against the wall to block an escape. His face was close to hers, and Jason could only imagine what his breath smelled like, but Lyra had a rather stubborn and insulted look on her face. One of Erin's hands moved up to catch a piece of stray hair on her neck and she flinched away automatically. This made Erin laugh.

"So what do you say Monster Girl? Wanna come?" he whispered, probably trying to be seductive but sounding more or less like a creeper instead.

"Get off Somer, I already said no." she hissed. Annoyed, she tried to duck under his arm and get away, but he caught her waist and to Jason's and Lyra's surprise, kissed her.

It was a rather disgusting sight. Sure, he was popular and Jason had heard many rumors that he wasn't just skilled in football, but what he was trying to commune as a kiss just wasn't really anything more then wetting her face.

His lips moved fast against hers and Lyra seemed frozen with shock, unable to move at the moment. Erin took this as an invitation, so his left hand slide down to join his right on her waist. He pushed her almost roughly against the wall, and that seemed to jolt her back to reality.

"Get off you freak, what are you doing?" she yelled when she broke free of the idiots mouth. He didn't say anything, just captured he lips again. She started beating his chest with her fists and that seemed to faze him a little to Jason's relief.

Suddenly, Jason was over to their spot, his hand spread wide against Erin's chest and pinning the boy to the lockers with his face inches from his. If his face hadn't been so infuriated, this would have been a rather suggestive scene.

"Keep. You're. Hands. OFF. Of her." He snarled quietly, so as not to alert any of the teachers nearby. He had already served detention that week; he didn't need to again next week.

In the second he had before Erin reacted, Jason's inhumanly fast mind realized what he was doing. What _was_ he doing? Protecting this girl instinctively, even though she most certainly didn't want him to and didn't need it. She most likely would be mad at his sudden and random display of possessiveness, but it seemed almost…natural? How strange.

Erin shoved away from his hand, rubbing his chest where Lyra had been hitting him and where Jason had pinned him. Jason hoped there was a nice bruise in an hour.

"Figures." The football player spat and walked away, passing a surprised looking teacher just coming around the corner.

"Are you all right?" Jason asked, unable to help himself. He was right when he had guessed her reaction.

"Of course I am. God, that kid is such a jackass! Why did you do that?" she asked, her voice turning angry near the end.

"…It was disgusting." He said simply. This seemed to throw Lyra. What had she expected, it wasn't like she had wanted that to happen anyways. "I hate him and to see him treating a woman like that, especially a teenager, is just sick. I don't care how rich or popular he is."

Lyra looked at him with a stunned look that slowly changed to gratitude. Maybe he had been wrong in his assessment of her reaction.

"Well, thank you then. It's nice to know that I have someone looking out for me." She said softly and touched his arm with her fingertips.

A strange thrill shot through him at her touch and her words. He supposed that he was looking out for her, feeling as…protective as he did. He didn't understand the emotions that went through him at this thought or her touch for that matter. Maybe his human instincts weren't buried as deep as he had thought.

"We'd better get going; Yuna's probably about to explode from impatience by now." Lyra said after a minute of touched silence. Her hand grazed across his arm before finally following her now walking form.

They reached Yuna soon, and Lyra was right in her estimation of Yuna's temper. But when she asked why it had taken so long, Lyra just casually brushed it off as crappy filing in the main office before Jason could say anything.

As he was biking away with Yuna on the back bars prattling about something, Jason caught Erin Somer's eye from the parking lot. He had his arms wrapped around Sabrina Qureshi, the half Arabic head cheerleader. He grinned evilly toward Jason before going back to kissing the girls neck. Jason scoffed in disgust before pedaling quickly out of sight.

* * *

Homework, check. Laundry, check. Dinner, check. All of Jason's chores were done and all of the books on his shelves were read. He had nothing to do. So of course, he turned on his computer.

He checked his email, deleting all the spam from colleges and random medications he didn't even need. Of course, he had a billion emails from Yuna, containing the links to stupid Youtube videos or online anime books. He never understood the draw those things had for her. Then a little box popped up in the corner saying: WolfGirl request IM Chat.

A smile spread across his face and he clicked 'Accept', ready for the stream of words she usually was spewing.

WolfGirl: Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! :D

Underworldlisten: lol

0000: what are you guys doing?

WolfGirl: nothing much. Just talking about that stupid paper. We'll probably all just procrastinate anyways.

0000: oh. Any thoughts on something I can do right now? I can't find anything and all of my homework is done.

WolfGirl: you can talk to wonderfully wonderful friends! :D

Underworldlisten: :D

0000: eh, too boring =P

WolfGirl: =O

Underworldlisten: lol I'm just going to leave inconspicuously now…

'Underworldlisten has logged off'.

"Yeah, very inconspicuous!" Jason thought wryly.

0000: well, that was weird

WolfGirl: …

0000: what are you doing?

Lyra didn't say anything after a few minutes. Jason started to get uneasy. Usually he just talked with Yuna, but now she was gone and it seemed to be getting more awkward per second.

Then the phone rang.

"Jason! It's for you!"

As Jason went down to get the phone, he started thinking daggers at Yuna. Why bother log off and leave him technically alone with Lyra and then call him?

"Yes, that was very inconspicuous." He said into the receiver.

"What was?" a confused voice like music said.

"…Lyra?"

"Yep! Didn't think I had your number did ya?" she laughed.

"…Yuna gave it to you didn't she? God, that girl never gives up." But he laughed himself. He rather liked the idea of her calling him and strange emotions flooded through him. Kind of like when he had shoved Erin off of her…

"So watcha doing?"

"Talking to you. What do you think, I asked you guys for ideas." He reminded her. Usually when people forgot things so quickly it annoyed him, but now with her it just amused him. Strange, yet again.

"Oh right. So Yuna tells me that you've got something going on tomorrow, and you seemed kind of uptight today. Is everything…okay?" she asked, concern in her voice.

"…It's…personal. One of those things you have to do to get it over with, but you really don't want to, you know?"

"Oh, yeah, like going to the doctor or bra shopping." She chimed. Jason paused. Did this girl have any shame? Just because he didn't show interest in any girls didn't mean it wasn't awkward when they talked about girly things.

"Uh…I guess…" she laughed, guessing his discomfort.

"Sorry. So what are you doing?" she inquired. She actually sounded interested.

"…I just asked you and Yuna for something to do, what do you think?" he retorted. It came out sharper then he wanted it to. "How about you?"

"Debating whether or not to go outside and draw. There's this really pretty pond under a willow tree in my front yard."

"Yeah, I saw that." He said without thinking. Then he almost slapped his hand over his mouth when he caught his slip up.

"Er, what?" she asked, sounding confused and immediately suspicious.

"Yuna told me about it, she's gone past your house a few times before you lived there." He mentally patted himself on the back at his save. Close call.

"_Too close, idiot. Watch it next time._" He scolded himself.

"Oh…hey, you two should come over sometime! I'll bet Yuna would like the house, its pretty Gothic and crap." She exclaimed.

"And crap?" he asked. Once again, the language she used was amusing.

"Well…yeah." She laughed a wind chime laugh. "I'd like to see you outside of school. You need to get out more too." She added.

"Gee, thanks." He said dryly. "I'll ask. It depends what day I guess."

Jason felt uneasy again. Talking to her on the phone, sure. Going to her house, this time not breaking in? Maybe not the best idea.

"Is something wrong? You're kinda quiet…"

"Uh…I'll ask my parents later. About the plans I mean." He said his voice a little higher. It wasn't that he didn't like Lyra or thought she had 'cooties' or something. He just didn't do well around girls. Or, to keep it real, people in general. Plus, she had siblings. He didn't want to end up punching her brother like he did Erin Somer, just because he wasn't good at controlling his temper.

"Okay! Well, that's all!" she said happily.

"Wait, you called just to ask me that when you want to invite Yuna too? Why didn't you just ask us on the computer?"

"Oh please, that's the weenie way." She said simply and hung up.

* * *

Ya! i finallly finished it! so, like i said in the beginning note, the updates will be slower. i have kind of a short attention span, so if i get bored i can't write otherwise it will be really crappy and i don't want to to that to you guys! XD so the next chapter (which i havn't even finished yet) will be up in about a week. sorry, no thanksgiving special. REVIEW!

lol, lyra is such a jerk sometimes *snerk*

-cally (^o^)


	10. Blood vs Friends

_**Chapter 10: Blood vs. Friends**_

Alright, the 10th chapter is up and I'm happy to see that I've been getting lots of story/author alerts and favorites. So thanks for that, but reviews are good too, so please keep that in mind. I don't even have the next chapter done yet, so please be patient. It has been so awesome to see that I have people looking at my story from Russia, Finland, Romania and Ukraine, which are my favorite countries. There are at least 10 others so that's amazing, thank you! :D

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN UNDERWORLD BUT I DO OWN THE MOVIES THAT I GOT FOR X-MAS! :D

* * *

Lyra's combat boots splashed through the puddles in the dark alley way. Probably not the best place to be wearing brand new leather shoes.

"_Crap, these were $50!_" she thought. But she turned her attention back to the situation at hand. The vampires ahead of her were getting farther away then she wanted them to.

Lyra had to admit, it was fun to toy with vampires. Lycans were the stronger race, it was proven scientifically, but if given a certain distance advantage, vampires could outrun a wolf.

She picked up her pace and shot forward, now only a few yards behind the group of bloodsuckers. Well, technically she was a 'bloodsucker' too, but she didn't have to feed every week to stay healthy, like them.

The vampires took a turn toward a building, a construction site. Perfect. As they moved through the shadows the beams cast over their 'lair', Lyra jumped from pole to pole like an acrobat.

She beat them to the entrance of course and jumped down in front of them in a blur. They all looked stunned. Sure it was daylight, but they were vampires. So of course nothing could beat them. Besides her.

"How could you be so stupid as to go walking out in daylight? I mean really?" she asked sarcastically. She always enjoyed their reactions.

"Out of the way." One growled; a tall biker who would have been intimidating had she not seen the way he ran. Even though he was a vampire, he lumbered around instead of zooming from place to place.

"Make me." she knew that with a guy like him, it wouldn't take much to bait him. He charged at her, his eyes glowing like little oceans filled with evil and hate. So Lyra casually pulled out a stake and he fell down to the ground, dead. "Anyone else?"

The others charged and she threw one on a broken wooden board, threw one out into the sun and wrapped a construction chain around a guy's neck and ran with it until he was staked on a half broken beam.

Dusting her hands off, she called the number of the Cleaners, which she had on speed dial.

"I'd like to report some vamp bodies." She said simply.

"Give us your location."

"The construction site on 42nd and Elmer St."

"Name?"

"Lyra Valaryous."

"Again? Do you go hunting for these guys Lyra?" a familiar voice asked. It was Kain, the teenage boy that she knew from when she worked with him for a short mission Alex gave her.

"Yeah. They were getting annoying with their feeding habits."

"Okay, well, we'll be there in a few minutes. We don't get many calls during the day."

Kain hung up and Lyra snapped her cell phone shut. She had just enough time to make it to 3rd hour.

* * *

Lyra breezed into the office like she was a star. She felt like one too. Killing vampires was a favorite activity of hers and she felt good every time she did.

She signed herself in and got a pass to 3rd hour English, hoping Jason was there today. She got her things from her locker and almost threw the door open when she got to room 142. The teacher looked at her.

"Your pass?" he asked, holding out his hand. Lyra handed him the slip and went to sit down next to her two friends, who were looking at her. Yuna was smiling hugely like always, but Lyra was surprised to see that Jason was giving her a tiny smile as well. She grinned in response and his got bigger.

Mr. Moore continued with his lesson while Jason leaned over toward Lyra.

"Why are you so late? You weren't here this morning."

"I had some things to take care of. I'll tell you later." She said and couldn't help but smile at her own little joke.

* * *

The day went fairly quickly after that and Lyra was glad. She still felt like she was high or something because of her little 'spree' before 3rd hour. Jason asked about it and so did Yuna, Steve and Kida, but she just told them she was hyper, which wasn't a total lie. Jason gave her an amused but wary look after that.

Lunch went by and Lyra just realized that it was a Friday. The day for hanging out and relaxing after a long week of the torturous boredom school created. Lyra thought about asking Jason and Yuna over, particularly Jason like she promised, and smiled. Already at the end of her 2nd week in school, she had made friends who weren't just _school_ friends. Friends who wanted to see her _outside_ of the learning zone.

When school was over, she decided to act on this new found discovery.

"Hey, are you busy today?" she asked Jason as they were waiting for Yuna to finish prying her backpack from her locker. Jason looked at her quizzically. "You know, for the rest of today." She clarified.

"Why?" he asked, curious why she was asking and not answering her question.

"Well, it's a Friday and school is out so I was just wondering if you wanted to do something. I don't really have anything better to do anyways." She shrugged, nonchalant.

"Oh…um, I don't know…" he mumbled and looked anxiously toward Yuna, as if talking to a girl was something he had never done before.

Lyra's avid mood suddenly deflated. She had been so excited that she actually _had friends_ that she hadn't thought about whether or not they were comfortable enough yet to get together. Yuna, obviously, but Jason…maybe not.

"It's okay, you don't have to…it was just a suggestion." She said and looked away, suddenly poignant.

"No, I want to. It's just I might have some plans, and I'm fairly certain that they're still, you know, _plans_." He explained in a hurry. Well, at least she knew he didn't want to offend her in anyway.

"Oh. Well I hope you have fun then." She said as Yuna finally escaped from her locker with her backpack intact.

"Have fun with what?" the Asian girl asked.

"Jason has _plans_." Lyra said surreptitiously.

"Oh yeah, plans with Natasha right?" Yuna asked. Lyra looked at Jason, who was glaring at Yuna. For some reason, she felt a mix of emotions course through her: pain, anger, desire and sadness. How strange…what the hell did that mean?

"Who's Natasha? Your girlfriend?" she teased, ignoring the strange twinge.

"You're kidding right? There's no way in _hell_ that I would want _her_ as _my_ girlfriend!"

"Okay, okay, just curious." More then that actually.

They walked out to the bike rack and Jason gave Yuna the key to his lock.

"I guess I'll see you later then." Lyra whispered.

"Yeah. Listen, I'm busy tonight, but if you want to do something some other time that okay." He smiled almost apologetically at her.

"Yeah. Sure." She replied, her mood soaring. It was nice to know that he was making and effort too.

"Dammit!" Yuna yelled suddenly. Both departing teens turned to look at her and Lyra breathing hitched unstably.

When she and Jason had been talking, Yuna had been undoing the chain to the bike rack and was getting on the bike when her long skirt had snagged on a protruding metal bar. Somehow, both her arm and her leg had been cut and were now bleeding.

A lot.

Lyra stood there wide eyed, staring at the blood as Jason rushed over to her. Her throat flamed and her stomach clenched, this time not with human hunger. It had been awhile since she had bothered to steal some of Jalis's supply of plasma, and Yuna wouldn't feel a thing from her natural sedative…

"Are you okay?" Jason asked, sounding adorably worried.

"Yeah I'm fine, it's not that bad. Let's just get home so I can clean it. I don't want to get Tetanus." She hissed, grabbing her bleeding arm.

"Yeah, okay. Can you stand?"

"Of course I can. It isn't that bad!"

"Lyra?" Jason asked, wrenching the Goth back to the present. It wasn't a good time to be in blood-la-la land. "What's wrong, you're not a fainter are you?"

Lyra laughed aloud at that, which helped her concentrate more on helping her friend then focusing on her thirst. Usually it was so acute she didn't notice it and she was known to be able to ignore the scent of blood on regular occasion. Today should be no different, especially since it was her friend.

"I'll go get the nurse and ask her to bandage you up." She said and bumped Yuna's nose playfully with the side of her fist, as if she were a kid. Yuna whined, Jason laughed and Lyra smirked; she didn't know what she was so worried about.

* * *

After Yuna was all fixed up by the nurses, Jason wheeled them away on his bike. Despite the situation, Lyra couldn't help but notice how awesome he looked with the wind playing in his hair. For I a minute it overwhelmed the sense of self-disappointment she felt. But only for a minute.

Just a minute ago she had been thinking how nice it was to finally have actual friends that would want to see her; then, just like that, she had potentially thought about drinking the blood of one of those friends.

Before, when Lyra hadn't had to worry about such situations, she had prided herself with the control and self-restraint she had. She had not exactly shunned, but had rather pitied vampires; they depended on blood to survive, whereas Lycans only craved it. It wasn't a necessity but it did help with strength and speed. Her siblings had struggled numerous times with this fact and she had been the one to restrain their monsters and her own.

How easily it sprang to the surface now!

Lyra shook her head in disgust and right away stalked up to Jalis's room and stole a bag of blood from his fridge when she got home. She ignored his childish protests about stealing and also ignored the smirks his vampire friend was giving her. After a few seconds of locking eyes with the boy, that smug smile was wiped from his face with fear. Smart boy.

She collapsed on her bed and tore open the pack, drinking hastily. For once, it wasn't a relief to consume the thick red liquid, but more of a sentence. She had taken her arrogance in too much stride and it had almost, for a brief second, had the potential to take her friends life. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Kicking herself again, she remembered how she had thought of _sedating_ Yuna to just take a little sip. Lycans have a natural sedative in their saliva, so one lick or kiss would have put both Yuna and Jason into a little stupor for awhile. But that wasn't a possibility.

Even when Lyra had been at her worst, she had only used that power a few times. It was a strange wonder how easily all of these feral instincts came floating back up to the edge; usually that only happened when another Lycan was nearby, but both Yuna and Jason were clean…

Lyra heard Jalis saying goodbye to his friend downstairs. Pounding footsteps came to a stop outside her bedroom door shortly afterwards and a quiet voice spoke.

"Lyra? Are you okay?" Jalis asked and pushed the door open a little.

"Yeah…just fine." She said, venom leaking into her voice. Jalis came to sit beside her on her low bed and grabbed her hand.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Yeah, right. Come on, I'm not that stupid Lyra. You seemed pretty pissed off when you stormed into my room and stole a snack." He laughed, probably trying to lighten the mood. Lyra just glared over her shoulder at him, then returned to looking at the ground on her outdoor terrace. "Please tell me? If you don't, I'll get Serena to come over and nag it out of you. We all know how that always ends, now don't we?" he asked, teasing again.

"…I'm sorry." She mumbled.

"About what?" he asked, completely floored by her suddenly shaky and defenseless voice.

"Before today, I judged you and Serena and Evain so harshly for not being able to control your vampire instincts at times. But today…I acted like a hypocrite."

"How so?"

"…Yuna got hurt and for a second I considered…I considered…"

"…You considered killing her?" he concluded reluctantly, but with an understanding tone. He knew all about _this_ subject.

"Not exactly. Jalis…even when I was at my worst I hardly ever used the Lycans' sedative. Hardly ever. But today, when she was bleeding not even that heavily I right away thought of it. It came back so easily…"

"Well, usually that only happens when another Lycan comes close by or you're starving. Is there anybody that could be one at your school?" he asked worriedly. The words started to flow freely and fast from Lyra's mouth in response.

"No. The only people nearby were Yuna, Jason and the staff in the building. I would have been able to sense if anybody were like me. I don't understand. But I am sorry. I prided myself in my self-control too much and I shamed nearly all vampires for being instinctual beasts. I'm not much better." She whimpered and a tear escaped down her face.

"Hey…it's okay. I mean, come on. Yuna's still alive isn't she? And this only happened for what, one second? Most vampires, or Lycans, for that matter would have acted on it the moment it came to mind. You're stronger then all of us. So you make one tiny slip conscious slip up. It's nothing to get so upset about." He comforted.

"Maybe…"

"Why don't you get some sleep, yeah? It's Friday, so just relax for a bit and you can do whatever you want tomorrow okay? Alex told me he won't be bugging you so much after your job today, 'cause you did really good."

"Fine…" she grumbled. Jalis laughed and took the now empty bag from her hand and draped her Jack Skellington blanket over her cold body, her eyes already drooping.

* * *

Awwwwww! Jalis is such a sweetie! I kinda felt that this last page was a little rushed so the wording might not be the best…so tell me if it is so I can fix it! :D a lot of the characters, like Lyra's siblings and Alex, haven't really been coming into the story very often like this one, so I'll try to work on that one. I have a funny scene planned out for 2 of them so watch for that…bwahaha!

Reviews are appreciated! Pie is good too…send me pie, I didn't get any for Thanksgiving. Oh! Btw, Happy Turkey Day to all the Americans out there! It's a little late, but oh well, better late then never!

This story is my 'most popular' out of the two that I have, but it's being bitchy and won't let me write it. Seriously, I just finished writing this chapter before I posted it. Bad me! *headdesk*

and i guess its too hard to click that little button and leave me a few words, even though i have been getting subscriptions almost everyday. so i'm going to ask for 2 reviews before i post again; come on thats pretty fair considering i have never really said give reviews or i won't update. i don't care how long it takes, i don't know how you guys feel bout my story so i would like to know. so until 2 reviews, wait for the next chapter. subscribers, please i beg of you! leave me something. just a little nibblit is fine, as long as it contributes to this story in some form of review. there are already 3 reviews, so i would like to have 5 before i update again.

-cally (^o^)


	11. Date

_**Chapter 11: Date**_

Sorry for the late update of two weeks. I did ask for 2 reviews, which, let's face it, is NOT very much so I was really sad when I only got one after being stubbornly resistant to updating for almost 15 days.

Oh crap the bitch is back! XD this is the big chappie where Jason has to face Natasha! =O but not to worry, he's not too much of an idiot to do anything stupid *wink wink* I couldn't really think of anywhere for them to go, so the date itself might be a little vague. But 'Tasha isn't supposed to be one of the big characters…

So sorry the updates are taking so long, I haven't had much spare time because a certain teacher of mine hates us and has a creepy fetish for PowerPoints.

Anywho, I plan on making this chapter pretty funny, since the ending to the last one kinda came off on a morbid note. Tell me if I succeed or not (for once would be nice) in reviews! (Would be nice, once again!)

DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN UNDERWORLD, FOR THE…11TH TIME! -.-

* * *

It was September 17th, a Friday. A week after Jason Kell had made a desperate and valiant attempt to get Natasha Anderson, a sexy and annoying vampire, to leave him alone for good. By the means of compromising to go on a date. Well, not so much compromising as giving in out of irritation.

He shuddered internally. _Date_. The word alone freaked him out, especially when it was combined with 'Natasha' in a sentence. He really didn't want to go out with her, but he figured what the heck, at least it would take her off his back. That was the important thing.

The woman was like a moth to a light. It would keep coming back and back again towards the brightness, only to be stopped every time by chain-like screen in front of the bulb. Hopefully tonight would remove that screen and the moth would touch it and shrivel up and go away. Not the best analogy, all things considered, but with how frequently she had been pestering him to go out, he was desperate.

He took his time and made sure that everything was in the right place in his room and that all of his homework was done. Anything to delay to minutes he had before she got here. He was way out of his comfort zone with this.

Bounding down the stairs, he saw his father, Claude, watching the news and his mother, Lilith, playing with their new baby Keyara.

"Where are you going?" Lilith asked. "You look kind of keyed up."

"Really? I feel tired…" he said, thinking of excuses he could give Natasha. But then that would just make her come back later…

"You got a date or something?" Claude asked, not really caring if what the answer was. Apparently the news was more interesting then any other boring night.

"No." he answered quickly. Both Claude and Lilith looked up at him now, catching his nervous tone.

"Jason…"

"I don't have a date; I'm just…going out…"

"Aw, who's it with?" his mother inquired, her interest picked.

"It's not a date." Jason replied through his teeth.

"Then why are you so nervous?" his father asked teasingly.

"Because Natasha thinks it is."

There was silence in the room except for the babbling of the news people and the tiny squeals coming from Keyara on the floor.

"Natasha? I thought you guys were just friends?"

"We are. Or at least I thought we were. She keeps bugging me every single month to go out and I figured if I say yes she'll stop." He replied, as if it were the obvious solution. In this case, probably the _only_ solution now.

"Jason! That's awful! You shouldn't toy with her like that!" his mother, the hopeless romantic, scolded.

"Let him do what he wants with it honey, Natasha isn't exactly his type. Besides, if he's positive that there's nothing there then who are we to try to change his mind?" Claude intervened. Jason smiled at his father's words; no matter the situation, he was usually on Jason's side while at the same time not hurting his wife's feelings.

"Well…alright, but if this ends badly you're going to be paying up big time with her. And me!"

"Yes mother, you'll get you're reserved rights for an 'I told you so'." Lilith nodded her head in approval and went back to wiggling Keyara's tiny feet in the air.

"So where are you guys going?" Claude asked, trying to be nonchalantly curious. Fail.

"Not sure, and I don't really care. Honestly, 'Tasha is becoming more of a nuisance then a friend."

Just then, headlights flashed through the window. Great, so they would be driving and not running this time. She was just determined to make this awkward.

"_Speak of the Devil_." Jason thought acidly. As a knock sounded at the door, Jason took a deep breath, as if he were about to walk into The Pentagon or something. He was basically scared shitless.

Natasha greeted him with a huge, dazzling smile, looking admittedly attractive. Of course she was wearing high heels and a low-cut shirt, her perfect legs sheathed in jeans. Earrings dangled from behind her straightened hair, matching the diamond necklace she wore.

She was all dressed up tonight. Crap.

"Why aren't you changed?" she asked, eyeing his normal t-shirt and jeans.

"Because." He said bluntly and grabbed his jacket, walking past her to the car. "So where are we going?" he asked as she joined him inside the too warm car.

"Well, I thought since it's an awfully cloudy day and is getting dark, we could go to the one place where I never get to go because of the sun. The beach!" she said cheerfully.

A beach? For a date? It was okay for a date, but not a first date. Particularly one that was only one-sided.

Jason just nodded in response and turned to look out the window. They could have just run to this beach, as it wasn't a problem for either of the supernatural creatures. She _was_ determined to make this awkward.

He looked out the window at the trees flashing by in the darkness. He was vaguely aware that Natasha was staring at him, maybe even had asked him a question, but his mind was on other things.

Tonight was hardly the night for his thoughts to become more human than they were. He kept remembering the trusting but angry look on Lyra's face when he pulled Erin away, or the strange emotions that flickered across her face when he mentioned his plans with Natasha. Was this what Yuna had been talking about when she said he was 'oblivious'? Human emotions had evaded him for years, and now they came back with an almost violent force.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror outside the car. He looked normal, besides the almost pained features new on his face. Just an average teenage boy; more muscular maybe, but that was it. He didn't understand why so many people commented or looked at him with awe or, like Natasha, with attraction. Perhaps it was a human thing…but then that wouldn't make sense.

Memories from his human life had long since faded away, and he couldn't remember if it truly was a _human thing._ But, strangely, he could understand, in Lyra's case anyway. She was a beautiful girl, and she had the opposite personality from him. What was the saying? 'Opposites attract'? That couldn't be right, but it seemed rational in this case.

And just like that, Jason was imagining it was Lyra next to him instead of the irritating blond vampire.

"We're here!" Natasha chimed and got out of the car. Jason followed behind mutely, exploring this new thought. True, Lyra wasn't a vampire or anything, but he did like her. It was a changeable thing, though much too early to be thinking of _that. _It was possible to have a relationship with someone human, wasn't it? Cheesy stories like Twilight or Vampire Diaries were proof enough of that, even if they were fictional. Vampires and werewolves _did_ exist, so it could happen.

Jason snapped back into reality from his depressing musing when they started to descend the rocky shore. Despite the fact that he was here with someone he didn't want to be (and now imagining she was someone else), the little Fresno beach was quite beautiful tonight.

Who knows, maybe he could enjoy himself.

* * *

It was nearly 10 o'clock when Natasha dropped Jason off. He got out with a genuine smile and waved when he got to his door. Natasha seemed pleased at least.

She had taken him to a small, hardly visited beach in Fresno, a little shopping town close to Guiden. And to his surprise, it had been nice. 'Tasha had provided him with the whole date package, without making it awkward.

They had watched fishes and ocean creatures in the little oases underground, looked at stars, walked through the surrounding woods. They had even had a hunting contest to see who could get the most animals in 15 minutes. Of course Jason won.

It wasn't exactly the ideal date, but it had been one that was pleasant, comfortable and sort of funny in the range of divergent activities. Natasha had even taken the time to provide blood for them. All in all it wasn't nearly as bad as he had expected.

"How was your date?" Lilith asked haughtily as he came in the door.

"It wasn't so bad." He replied while he took off his shoes.

"Do you think you'll go out again?"

"It was nice, but not that nice." He snorted. Yeah, it had been fun, but he still felt exactly the same way about Natasha and he hadn't promised her anything more then that. It wasn't exactly a night to remember either.

"Why not?" his mother asked sullenly, looking away from the ice cream she was scooping. Jason knew that, like any mother, whether adoptive or not, Lilith wanted him to be happy. In her eyes, that _had_ to require some form of relationship, preferably a romantic one.

"Mom…" he whined. To be honest, he was exhausted from his night out.

"All right, all right. Just go to bed then, I'll see you in the morning. And I'll get you a new alarm clock, since your broke yours _again_." She said and gave him a disparaging look.

"Oh…sorry I didn't even notice…" he mumbled and ran up to his room. Ebony was sleeping on his pillow and he went over to pet her. Flopping down onto his back, he was nearly asleep when something vibrated in his pocket. He jumped and Ebony did to, scrambling off his chest and back to the pillow. He pulled out his phone and saw he had a message from Lyra.

A smile automatically lit up his face and he eagerly opened it.

"Wat r u doing?"

He replied,

"Thanks for waking me up."

"Ur asleep already? Geez…"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm contemplating on whether or not 2 go draw or fall asleep. Not sure which to do quite yet."

"Draw then send me a picture. I want to see what it looks like :D."

He hit enter and waited for her response.

"Wanna come over?"

Jason blanched when he read it. Come over? It was 10 o'clock at night!

"It's 10 at night."

"So?" she replied.

Jason weighed the options. He certainly wasn't tired anymore, but sneaking out wasn't something he wanted to do. But he decided that if he had feelings for this girl, he minas well do something to get closer.

"Fine."

"Ok, c u in a few!" then the texts stopped. Jason trudged down the stairs and looked around the corner. For once, Keyara was sleeping and Lilith was watching some sappy love movie.

"I'm going to bed. Night." He said, trying to sound groggy.

"'Kay." She replied, too engrossed to really pay attention. He hoped she wouldn't check in his room.

He made his way up to the 2nd floor and catapulted through his window as soon as it was safe.

* * *

The 1st time Jason had been to Lyra's creaky old house was when him and Yuna had broken in. It was even creepier now, but a strange calm was over the place. Maybe because he was entering with permission this time.

For the 2nd time that night, Jason wasn't paying attention to his surroundings and headed straight for the front door. Walking right past the giant tree in the yard.

"Where are you going?" a quiet voice laughed from behind him. He turned around and saw Lyra smirking at him on the arm of a metal bench underneath the willow tree.

"There you are. Sorry, I zoned out a bit."

"I could tell." She said, and bit her bottom lip in an appealing way.

"So…why did you want me to come over?" he asked. It had just occurred to him that he didn't know why exactly he was here.

"I dunno." She shrugged.

"…so you told me to come over for nothing?" he said slowly.

"Not nothing…I was just bored and wanted someone here. Everybody else is gone." She explained and then slipped onto the bench seat, picking up a sketchbook and pencil. This perked Jason's interest and he went to sit beside her, looking over her shoulder. His mouth made a small popping sound as it fell open.

She had everything, _everything_, in her yard and the sky copied down onto the paper. Stars, trees, grass, the pond, water lilies floating on the surface, even some of the draping willow tendrils. It was all from what he guessed was her point of view, because willow vines draping overhead a little bit.

"That's amazing!" he exclaimed. "Where did you learn to draw like that?"

"I guess…I just taught myself. It's not that hard, if you know what to do."

"Uh-huh…"

Jason sat down next to her and continued to watch her draw, for who knows how long. It got more detailed with every minute, every scratch of her pencil. How could she be so good at everything? It wasn't fair.

But the thing that drew his attention the most was her face.

It was smooth, tranquil, as if this small little act were some form of release for her. Her pale skin almost glowed with the light from the stars and the half moon, which was nearly an exact replica in her picture. Her silver hair flowed over her shoulders; it was the first time he had seen her wear it down all the way, instead of just a ponytail or messy bun. It was a look of utter peace and quiet, something she seemed to be willing to share with him. That thought sent him soaring.

But that tranquil look was ruined for a short second, as apparently she got to a difficult decision with her drawing. Her smooth brow puckered and her bottom lip went between her teeth again, but this time in frustration. She made a small whining sound, as if she were angry with the picture for not cooperating.

"Stop moving your legs!" she suddenly hissed. He looked away from her face to her drawing and saw two pairs of legs sticking out into her picture. He laughed when he saw his own feet had been erased multiple times.

"Sorry." He muttered. She gave him a playful sneer and continued to draw, oblivious to everything.

Her brow un-puckered and the edges of her mouth turned up into a smile. Absent-mindedly, she curled a strange of hair around her left index finger as she looked down on her work, finally satisfied.

Now it was truly a night to remember.

* * *

Aw! They'z having a special moment! Jason, you idiot. It's so frustrating to write him, because I always think of Midnight Sun (Twilight from Edward's POV) when I try to write stuff like that. But who cares, it's a different story anyways.

The next chapter will be posted after I get 2 more reviews. I'm hoping that you all care enough to tell me what you think instead of reading and then totally ignoring this. It's also a new trimester in my school, which means new classes and more homework so I might not update so soon, I might even forget cuz I seem to have a problem with that…hope you come back my way for updates anyways, review please! :D

And yes, oases is the plural for oasis, just so you don't get confuzzled.

-cally (^o^)


	12. Key

_**Chapter 12: Key**_

This chappie is from Lyra's POV. Some of the characters that haven't been mentioned so much (like her 'family') are going to be mentioned in here. It's a chapter that takes place at her house, except the beginning. Remember how I said that I have a funny/awkward scene planned for two of them? At the end of chapter 10 was it? Ya, it's in this one. So enjoy and review more, cuz the last 2 i have gotten are from the same person (which is much appreciated anyways :D). pleeeeeeeeease!

BTW: school is still rough so the updates will be at this pace for a while.

DISCLAIMER: ALL I OWN THAT'S RELATED TO UNDERWORLD ARE THE DVD MOVIES AND FAKE FANGS. EVERYTHING ELSE IS SCREEN GEMS© AND LAKESHORE ENTERTAINMENT© PROPERTY!

* * *

Friday.

That one word was on the mind of every teacher and student alike at Mt. Guiden High School. Already, after only 3 weeks of school, everybody wished it was over. The nearest holiday was Halloween, which didn't supply them with the much desired 'No School' days. Every day seemed more impossibly monotonous then the last; the only thing that kept her from dropping out (and she could since she had gone to school before) were her few friends.

It was 2:20 pm, 5 minutes before school was due to get out. Lyra lifted her heavy, pre-caffeinated head off of her arms, waiting for the clock to tick to the 12 five more times. Her last hour was Orchestra, the most advanced class of course, so usually she was alert so she wouldn't mess up. But today the teacher was gone and they had a free day. Not the best thing when you had a crabby ass sub and you're tired as hell.

Finally the sound of sweet freedom hit her ears and she rushed out of the room like a 'bat out of hell'. She was at her locker in record time (for human speed at least) and shoved her things into her Slipknot bag. As she turned around, she saw Erin headed right for her so she swiveled the other way. And rammed right into Jason's chest.

She looked up, stunned, and he smiled widely at her. She grinned back and looked at Erin, who was now glowering at them both, but not approaching them. A sigh of relief escaped her lips.

"Come on." Jason chuckled when he followed her gaze. He was surprisingly cheery today and at first it had weirded Lyra out, but then she realized after a short conversation with Yuna, it seemed to be because of her. She had pondered this idea and decided maybe it was because she and Jason had become a lot closer in the past week, or maybe their little drawing session at her house the week before.

Taking Jason's reassuring and soft hand, she let him lead her out of the throng of rushing teachers and pupils to the back doors. They undid the chains on their bikes and were waiting for Yuna when Jason spoke again.

"Hey, I was wondering…" he started. Lyra eagerly turned toward him, hoping he was about to ask her out. "…if maybe you wanted to do something this weekend. All three of us I mean."

Lyra's heart fell just a little bit. It wasn't exactly asking for a date, but hey, they had only known each other for 3 weeks right? And Yuna would be there to save them if anything got awkward. Maybe Lyra could get to know Jason better too…

"Sure. I said you two should come over sometime, didn't I?"

"Yeah you did; I'm sure Yuna would love the chance to see your room too. You're like the Gothic Doll Queen in her eyes."

"Sounds like Yuna. How about Sunday, I'm a little busy on tomorrow?"

"That's fine I'm sure. Yuna might have to ditch for church though, after awhile."

"Well, as long as she can stay for a bit." Lyra said cheerfully. But it wasn't the fact that Yuna would be there anymore; it was the fact that she might get some alone time with Jason. "Anyways, tell Yuna. I got to get going. See you on Sunday!"

"Yeah. And Yuna." He added a bit awkwardly. Lyra nodded and got on her bike, careful to arrange her skirt right.

She looked back once to see Yuna talking to Jason and caught his wave just before she was out of site.

* * *

It was 1:30 pm before Lyra woke up on Saturday. The beauty of the weekend was that sleeping in wasn't just an option, but a necessity for a high schooler. It couldn't be helped.

The smell of fresh brewed coffee dragged Lyra from her bed eventually and she arrived down in the kitchen sporting her black Evil Hello Kitty night slip. She could feel the stares on her only partial-clothes, but it was a weekend morning after a good nights rest; nothing could dim it.

"Hello Lyra." An amused voice spoke. Lyra slowly inclined her head to see Alex smirking at her from the bar, obviously amused by her night attire. She just nodded in response and went back up to her room with her coffee.

Now to get to work.

Banging echoed around the house from Lyra's bedroom. It may be a Saturday, but some things had to be done anyway.

Before, when Lyra had first claimed her room, she had speculated that maybe she would need to build shelves for all of her little knick-knacks and junk. She had been right in that judgment, but too lazy or busy to really put it into action. Now she had a cloth mat spread out on the floor and drills and a saw in her room, beams of wood resting against the wall.

There was a nice little ridge about a foot and a half from the ceiling, a perfect resting place to nail the shelves to. They were already cut and trimmed and fitted, the problem was getting them up there. Even with her insane balance skills and strength, the boards were too long to just _put up_.

Lyra was trying to hoist one up, when the door opened and Jalis came walking in, saying something. But she wasn't listening, because the door had jostled the ladder and made the board's precarious balance a little too uneven. With a shriek, Lyra fell off the ladder with the board on top of her. She heard a strange clinking noise before Jalis realized what had happened and rushed over to help her.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't know you were on the ladder, I didn't even see you!" he exclaimed, being a little too overdramatic. She was a Lycan; it wasn't like falling of a ladder 7 feet in the air underneath a board would hurt her. Make her a little flustered or embarrassed, sure, but not hurt.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Knock next time." She said, dusting off her skull t-shirt with irritation. "Is there something you needed?"

"I came to tell you that Alex, Evain, Serena and I are going out for a while. Do you want to come?"

"Nah, I'm busy here. I want to get everything done and cleaned up before Jason and Yuna come over tomorrow." She explained, shaking her now-dusty hair out.

"Okay. We'll be back around 9 or something." He said and turned to walk out the door.

"Wait, 9? It's 4 o'clock, what will you be doing with _them_ for 5 hours?" she exclaimed. Jalis wasn't exactly the partying type and usually shied away from drinking and people. Clubs especially.

"Well, some of it will be work related, but Alex wanted to take us all out. You sure you don't want to come? It will be fun. Probably…" he added uncertainly. At least he was trying to come out of his shell a little.

"Just go. Have fun without me, I'll be fine. I have lots to do anyways." She said and tried to hide her sullen tone. If Jalis was going, she wanted to be with him so he wouldn't back out and miss a fun time. The kid needed to get more outgoing.

"Okay…see you later then I guess." He said and turned out the door.

Lyra smiled after them and watched them leave from her terrace, waving to Jalis. He looked a little uncomfortable, but Lyra winked at him and he smiled reassuringly.

She returned to her work and was about to get up on the ladder, when she stepped on something small, hard and cold. Leaning the wood against the wall again, she stooped down to stare at it.

It was a key.

Much like the one that opened the front door, it was old-fashioned and brass. That must have been what made the strange clattering noise when she fell. But what would it be doing way up there, on either the door lip of the ceiling ridge?

Lyra shrugged it off and picked the key up, putting it in her pocket. It didn't fit to anything she knew, so she would wait until the others got home to show it to them.

She smirked at the thought of secret treasure as she set to work on her shelves.

* * *

Jalis had lied. It wasn't 9pm when they got back but more like 11. Not that she was complaining; nobody seemed to be drunk and Jalis didn't ditch. But it was annoying because they woke her up.

Loud voice drifted up to her sensitive ears and she jerked a useless pillow over her head. Didn't they know she was here? Or did they forget? Maybe they _were_ drunk, though that would have taken a lot of alcohol to get 4 _vampires_ drunk.

Who she assumed was Jalis walked up the stairs and went into a room on the 3rd floor. It sounded like Serena was leaving, if Lyra was hearing their conversation right. Well, that would be one less annoying vampire in her house.

"Are you leaving?" Evain asked, sounding disappointed and maybe a little nervous. She had always liked Alex, for some unknown reason (the guy was a jerk), but got nervous around him like a giddy teenager.

"Yeah. You two need to finish your work and I don't want to just sit around."

"Well, I don't know, you could, uh, help maybe?" Alex suggested mordantly.

"Nah, work isn't really my style. Well, outside work it isn't." Lyra could almost hear Evain roll her eyes as Serena walked out the door unsubtly.

"So…what else do we have to do?" Evain asked shakily.

"Well, we need to plan out…" Alex started. Lyra ignored them after that. Serena was gone, which meant they would probably be relatively quiet enough for her to fall asleep again. Although, who would want to work on work stuff at 11 o'clock at night?

Eventually, Lyra caught onto a small doze, for who knows how long. It was peaceful and quiet, just what she wanted. But then the thought of that key she found snapped into her brain and woke her up. Suddenly she got so excited about it, that it felt as if she had had another cup of coffee that instant.

Jerking out of her bed, Lyra grabbed the key and her robe to rush downstairs. But when she got to Jalis's door, he was already asleep so she wouldn't bother him. She descended to the 1st floor and stopped abruptly. The lights were all out and it was quiet. But she hadn't heard either vampire go home…

She walked across to the kitchen, to see if they were in there, but the lights were out too. Then she heard small, weird noises coming from the dining room. The small serving window was shut, so she just turned on the lights and walked in.

She didn't expect to see what she did.

Lyra's eyes widened and her hand slapped over her mouth. Two other pairs of eyes stared back at her and then arms were flying, either to gesture for her to get out or to cover up their naked bodies. Lyra stuttered and then flew back up to her room in a literal second, slamming the door shut.

Well, it looked like Evain wasn't so shy anymore.

* * *

The next morning, Lyra didn't want to get up. It was Sunday, the day her friends were supposed to come over, but it was also the morning after she had caught her sister and her boss in her _dining room_. Seriously, the dining room? That was more like Serena then Evain. In fact, Evain pretty much the ideal of a hermit when it came to...well, _it_.

Reluctantly, she dragged herself out of her warm bed and slowly descended the stairs, so they would hear her this time and cover up if they were _at it_ again. Opening the door, she went straight to the coffee machine and ignored the sheepish expressions on the faces of the two vampires in question.

"Did you sleep good?" Evain asked desperately. She must have been so embarrassed last night and was trying to make up for it now.

"Fine." Lyra replied curtly. She was about to walk back up to her room when Jalis walked in. he was so happy this morning, it looked like he was the sibling who got laid, not the guilty-looking Evain.

"Hello!" he said cheerfully. All of them just smiled at him in reply. "Okay…" he said to himself uncertainly. His happy gait slowed and he awkwardly walked over to the coffee machine next to Lyra. He then walked to the refrigerator and pulled out things for breakfast.

"Hey Lyra have you seen the sausage? I thought we had some sausage this week…I wanted to make sausage and eggs this morning." Jalis exclaimed. Alex and Evain shared a gauche look and Lyra almost coughed up her coffee. It was funny and disturbing at the same time. "Lyra?" Jalis asked again.

"No we don't have any." She said and couldn't keep the awkwardness or laughter out of her voice. Jalis noticed and looked at Evain and Alex, who were glaring at her.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Nothing." Alex said sternly and gave him a 'look'. But for once, Jalis was too interested and ignored him.

"Oh come on! Something definitely is and you guys always keep things from me just because I'm a teenager. She's older then me and she knows!" he whined and pointed to me.

"It's nothing, okay, just work stuff." Evain lied; she was anything but convincing.

"Oh come on! I'm sick of being the excluded third-wheel in this 'family'!"

" Last night I walked in on Evain and Alex having sex on the dining table!" Lyra blurted. Jalis's face blanched with surprise and shock while Alex and Evain glared at her in disbelief.

"Well, I'll go get that sausage then." Jalis said in a high-pitched voice and jogged out of the house to his truck.

Lyra turned to face Evain and Alex who were both blushing and staring at each other.

"Next time, keep it in the bedroom, if not your pants." She asked before going to the cleaning closet. There was no way she was eating in that room until it had been thoroughly bathed in bleach.

* * *

Hahaha! Was it funny? I myself have done this before (though not in the dining room, thank god) so I thought it would be nice to add some humor into the chapters along with some appearances of the other characters. And for those of you who watch Still Standing, that's where I got the sausage idea. It was just too funny to not use! XD

The next chappie will be up once i get two reviews again. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Kwanza to all of those who celebrate those things! :D and a Happy whatever if i missed something.

-cally (^o^)


	13. Door

_**Chapter 13: Door**_

Thank you for the reviews and favs! :D it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy! (which is good by the way XD)

Alright, I hope that you all noticed the titles of this and the last chapter. The next one will fit right into it too. Just a heads up, a little foreshadowing. Jason's POV this time, I'm evening his parts out too. I hope this chappie has a little bonding in it and maybe some of Serena, cuz we saw her last in the 2nd chapter I think.

DISCLAIMER: UNDERWORLD ISN'T MINE. BUT I WANNA BE IN UNDERWORLD!

* * *

If he had the ability to sweat, now would have been the time.

It was Sunday, usually just a normal day, but today was the day he would have to face his stupid human feelings and get on with it.

So Jason Kell stalled.

He stayed in bed until Lilith came banging on the door and Ebony was chewing his hair. He lumbered around in his pajamas until his father told him to take a shower. Breakfast was eaten at noon. Overall, he was very anxious and his parents weren't very happy.

"You look upset about something." Claude asked as he joined Jason at the dinner table to eat his lunch, while Jason was just finishing breakfast.

"I'm tired." Jason said and let his head fall down on his arms. He wasn't tired because he didn't sleep; he had slept like a baby last night. He was tired from trying to figure everything out.

Humans were something he had to deal with everyday and practically every minute. They were at school, at his house, in the stores when he had to run errands for Lilith. They were even in his dreams, those random ones everybody has. But throughout all of this, he had never bothered to study them, to learn from them. He knew the basics, their emotions, their needs. Happiness, anger, sadness, love, lust. Those were all very common. They all had to eat and breathe and move. He did that too.

But he had never even bothered to think about how he could relate to them, and now it was really becoming a pain in the ass. He loved his family, and he loved Yuna like a friend. He loved Keyara with the love of an older brother and he loved Ebony because she was his pet. But the other type of love had never come into his life before, and now that it was about to manifest in the form of a silver haired girl, he had no idea what to do.

"You like you're in pain or something." Claude smirked.

"You could say that." He mumbled around his arms.

"Anything I can help with?"

"…When you met mom, how did you feel? Right when you saw her I mean?"

"How did I feel? Well, when I first met Lilith, she was stumbling around because she couldn't find the Spanish class. I helped her there and we sat together, talking the whole time. It wasn't exactly love at first sight, but when I found out she was a witch, that just added to the list of things we have in common. Then it was love." He finished.

"Oh."

"Was there a reason you were curious? That's not exactly a question you would ask. Is there someone you're interested in?" he asked curiously.

"I'm not sure. I haven't felt this way in a long time but I'm not exactly sure what it is that I'm actually feeling. Does that make sense?"

"I suppose for someone as old as you it would. For an immortal, human emotions are usually lost after a while if they aren't aroused by something first. And since you weren't in love when you were human, as far as you can remember, they probably were settled deep and forgotten. Until Lyra came along." He surmised. Jason's head jerked up.

"I never said it was her!" he growled.

"You didn't have to. It's fairly obvious that something's going on in that head of yours when it comes to her. And Yuna told me."

"Figures." Jason grumbled under his breath.

"Speaking of those two, don't you have to go soon? You're going to Lyra's house right?" Claude said almost mockingly. Yeah, big mistake in letting him in on the secret.

Without a word Jason snatched up his bowl and put it in the sink, storming up to his room. It was only then that he realized he was already dressed and ready to go. With more grumbles, he went back downstairs, ignored the amused snicker from his dad.

Yuna gave him grief about being late and 'wasting her allotted time with her new best friend' when he arrived at her house with his bike. She kept on jabbering all the way to Lyra's house, until she saw that silver hair in the same place where Jason had sat with her under the willow tree.

"Lyra!" Yuna said with a giant smile and a wave, jumping roughly off the back of the bike so Jason had to steady it. He sent a glare her way, which went unnoticed by her and got a giggle from Lyra.

"Hey guys." she greeted, closing a folder and collecting her pencils.

"Were you drawing again?" Jason asked when he finished chaining his bike to the iron gates.

"Drawing? Since when to you draw?" Yuna asked, looking between the two.

"I asked him over a week ago just for the heck of it. I was drawing and he watched." Lyra explained indifferently.

"Oh. That must have been fun." She said through her teeth. Lyra must have noticed because she quickly added more.

"It's just, it was really late and he's usually up pretty late too. I didn't want to wake you up, so I just called him."

"It's okay I was just surprised Jason would do something like that. So what are we going to do today? I'll have to leave in awhile to go to stupid church with my parents." She asked, ignoring the glare Jason gave her for the hit to his persona.

"Dressed like that? Nice." Lyra chuckled, noting Yuna's black-on-black attire. She extended her hand for a knuckle punch. "And to your first question, I'm not really sure. I got this awesome new movie we could watch, if you like. Jalis went crazy on the snacks when he heard I was having friends over. His way of getting all the candy he wants to sate his sweet tooth." She said, raising her hands and eyebrows in a 'don't ask me' expression.

They made there way to the living room, which was right across from the front doors. Jason felt bad when he realized he remembered where every room was from him and Yuna's night of crime. She still hadn't told him what was in those diaries or shown him the pictures she got developed.

Lyra hadn't been exaggerating when she said her brother went crazy. Three giant mugs of root beer rested on the coffee table and a tube of cheesy popcorn was in the middle, which made Yuna squeal with delight. Jason had never understood her weird taste for everything cheesy and it was a little creepy. Jason gave her a look when he noticed all the candy littering the table.

"Sorry. I wasn't joking when I said Jalis loved candy. In fact here he comes to probably get more." She said and pointed to a boy who had just rounded the corner. He had short, scraggly looking brown hair and tan skin, a big contrast to Lyra. His eyes were ridiculously big and a hazel green color. Jason made an odd note that he looked like the type who would wear glasses, play video games all day and grow up to be a government computer hacker.

Jalis froze when he saw that they were here now.

"These your friends?" he asked almost rudely.

"Yep. This is Yuna and Jason." She said, waving to them in turn with announcing their names. Yuna waved while Jason just stood there, all but oblivious to the kid and trying not to stare at Lyra.

"Nice to you guys. I'm Jalis, her older brother."

"Nice to meet you." Yuna said politely while Jason once again remained quiet.

"So what movie are you guys gonna watch? That stupid horror film she bought yesterday?" The boy smirked.

"It isn't stupid!" Lyra defended, as if the movie were an actual person. Jason rolled his eyes.

"See, he agrees with me!" Jalis exclaimed and pointed to him. Lyra turned to look at him in disbelief.

"You're siding with him? I thought you liked scary movies."

"I never said anything relating to the conversation." He said, raising his arms to ward her glare off.

"Hey calm down guys, it's just a movie." A female voice said behind them. Jason turned to see a pretty, dark brunette walking through the door. He noted with distaste that she was dressed kind of skanky, with a short skirt, high heels and tube top. When Lyra dressed that way, she had some dignity and wore a jacket and tights, unlike this woman who was all of a sudden eyeing him uncomfortably.

"Oh hey Serena. These are my friends Yuna and Jason." Lyra greeted her. Great, this was her _sister_ eyeing him now!

"Hello." She said flirtatiously, specifically looking at Jason. He looked down and shuffled his feet once. Lyra looked awkward as well, as she seemed to realize what her sister was doing.

"What are you doing here, I thought you were coming tomorrow?" she asked to distract her sister's eyes. Finally, Serena stopped staring.

"Well, I have something for you from Alex but I guess I'll just give it to you later. Come on Jalis." Serena instructed, winking at Jason as they went into the kitchen. He froze and his eyes widened, turning to look at Lyra expectantly.

"Sorry." She apologized. "She tends to do that to any guy she sees besides Alex and Jalis."

"Oh…" Jason said and Yuna giggled. "So how about that movie?" he asked, anxious to get the afternoon along.

"Sure." She smiled.

* * *

The movie they watched was called _The Blair Witch Project, _and it indeed was scary, even for Jason. It all looked so real, and Jason was thrilled when Lyra sat next to him and would grab his arm without a second thought. It was hard to believe that not even a month had past since they had all met.

When the movie was over, they all just sat there with wide eyes.

"That was interesting." Jason said eventually.

"That's what you said when _Devil _was over too. Does that mean you liked it?"

"Pretty much, yeah." He said and turned to smile at her. He had watched only some of the movie, focusing on Lyra's touch most of the time.

"What time is it?" Yuna asked suddenly.

"About four. That movie was only about 90 minutes."

"My parents will be here soon to pick me up for church." She confessed with a frown.

"Oh that sucks. No offense, if you believe in God and stuff…" she added, hoping she hadn't offended her new friend.

"Nah, its fine. Let's do something else. Before you said that you draw, can I see some of them?" Yuna asked eagerly.

"Sure." Lyra said, almost glowing with pride in the fact that someone wanted to see her marvelous pictures.

She led them up to her attic room, Yuna gushing over every single little Goth thing she could find from the Dark Fairy bedspread to the little Skelanimals figurine collection. Jason found fascination in the room itself, the weird angles and trimming of the wood.

"What do you think?" she asked them when they were done surveying her room.

"It's awesome!" Yuna gushed.

"It is pretty cool. It looks like something out of a magazine." He said, pointing to the commercial bedspread and posters on the walls.

"Thanks. Anyway, these are my works." She said and pulled out a box from her closet.

"Geez, how many do you have?" Jason wondered aloud when Yuna began ruffling through them all.

"I draw pretty much whenever I have spare time, which is a lot. Those are just the better ones that I wanted to keep."

"Jason look at this!" Yuna said and held up a picture that both scared and interested him. It was a picture of a vampire and a werewolf fighting under a full moon. It looked like the werewolf was going to win, the vampire baring his fangs but starting to retreat. It was amazing the detail she put into every single little thing; the individual strands of hair, the creases of the face of the vampire and even the Latin writing around the edge.

"It looks like that painting in Van Helsing." He admitted.

"Yeah, that's were I got the idea." Lyra confessed. Hopefully that was all that inspired her; her painting was almost dead on in the factors of appearance and fighting skills. "I've always been interested in those sorts of things. Jalis always says that that's why I dress the way I do, and why I'm such a night owl, because I believe in them so much."

Well, that hope was successfully squashed.

"It's so detailed. Do you really believe in this stuff?" Yuna asked. Yuna knew the truth; that those creatures really did exist. But despite her knowledge, she seemed to be more eager to bond with Lyra in that faith instead of interrogating her like Jason probably would have if he could speak. He was still too stunned and too interested in Lyra's response to interrupt.

"Well sure. I mean it makes sense; I don't believe that we are alone in this world, that we couldn't be the only species that was smart and human. Like those people who believe in aliens kind of; I mean, if something created us humans then why not monsters to keep us in check?" she concluded, making Jason flinch. 'Keep humans in check'? That wasn't exactly what demons did.

"Makes sense I guess. It's similar to what I believe in." Yuna agreed.

"Well I'm glad I'm not alone; even Jalis thinks I'm crazy and he's the one who plays all those stupid zombie monster games." She joked. Well, at least Jason had guessed right about her brother on something. He could never guess with Lyra though; her reactions to things were always the opposite of normal or what he expected.

Jason was about to take it farther when they heard a car honk in the driveway. Lyra ran out onto her terrace and pouted again. It looked like Yuna's parents were here.

"Yuna it's your parents." She said sadly.

"Aw man! I thought we were going to the later session!" the girl whined.

"I'll walk you down." Lyra smiled and then turned her back to walk out the door. Yuna gave him a look and motioned with her eyes, telling him 'stay here and sneak around'. Great, now he was the spy.

"I'll stay here." He clarified before Lyra yelled at him. She seemed to like doing that; but all she did was smile at him as she and Yuna descended the stairs.

Jason looked around awkwardly when they were gone. What was he supposed to do, go through her underwear drawer or something? It wasn't like he had ruffled through someone else's things on purpose before.

He decided to start with the little dresser next to her mattress. There was only one drawer and then a little door to the inside but all that was there were notebooks filled with even _more _drawings. Frustrated, he shut the drawer and looked out the window. Then he felt a presence standing behind him and turned. Lyra was still downstairs…

It was Serena.

"Hello." She said, batting her eyelashes.

"Uh…hi." He replied awkwardly.

"What are you doing up here all alone? Where is Lyra?" she asked innocently, a predatory look in her eyes. He was 17 for God's sake! Well, technically 19, but she didn't know that…

"She's downstairs with Yuna saying goodbye. She has to church on Sundays."

"Church? She doesn't really look like the type." Serena giggled. "Do you go as well?" she took a few steps closer. An image on Natasha came into his mind with the way she was acting. He wished the small talk would keep going, but if she _was_ like Natasha…

"Well, I'm not really there now so no…"

"I figured. You look more like…the wild type." She said and stood closer, so she was face to face with him. She stretched up onto her toes and asked, "Am I right?"

All right now was the time to panic. She was Lyra's older sister for crip's sake!

"Serena?" Lyra asked, thankfully appearing in the doorway. Serena turned around with a disappointed look on her face, as if she were mad they were interrupted. "He's in high school and my friend, so leave him alone."

"Fine. I wasn't going to do anything anyway." She sniffed and walked out, but not before giving Jason a wink.

"Do you have no shame woman?" Lyra scolded, slapping her sister's dainty shoulder as she walked past. "Sorry, she does to any guy that isn't Jalis or Alex." She added when her sister left.

"Yeah, you said that already. How old is she anyway? She doesn't look that much older then us…"

"She's the shameful age of 22. Honestly, it gets so annoying when she flirts like that. I'm surprised she didn't jump you. Though I don't really blame her."

"What do you mean?" he asked really wanting to change the subject. But he had to know what Lyra thought of him, especially if she thought he was attractive. He thought he was just an ordinary looking boy, yet all of the women in his life said differently.

"Oh come on. Do you not see all the girls at school ogling you? The only reason they wont come talk to you is because they're scared of you. You are pretty cute." She admitted openly. And she said her sister had no shame…

"That's not true!" he defended.

"Psh, sure. Keep on believing that. Don't be surprised if you get tons of candy canes or something when it comes to the Christmas candy thing at school. You know, when admirers send you stuff." She said casually, shrugging her shoulders. "You look like you just saw a ghost or something. I'm just teasing, though it is probably true." She added when she saw his expression.

He stood there, once again awkward, as she fixed a cloth hanging over a lamp.

"Oh! Wanna see something cool?" she suddenly bounced up, grabbing his arm.

"Uh sure." He said quickly, surprised by her sudden enthusiasm. She flounced over to a dresser against the wall. It was old fashioned, leaving no space between the bottom and the floor, the edges trimmed with elegant spirals. It was made of a very nice dark wood and had several drawers.

"I found this yesterday as I was making these shelves." She said and pointed to the newly added planks on the walls. "I don't know what it goes to, but I thought it was pretty neat." She reached up, stretching her body to its fully height to reach the top of the dresser, and pulled something off the top. It was a skeleton key.

"Wow. That looks like something you would find in here." He exclaimed as she handed it to him.

"Well duh, I did find it in here." Jason gave her a dry look and she just grinned in response.

"I wonder what it goes to." He thought as he handed it back.

"I tried every lock in this house, but they all have keys already and it didn't fit any of them anyway." She explained, as if answering his thoughts. She reached up again to put it back on the dresser when her balance shifted and it fell behind the heavy wooden cabinet. "Crap." She muttered. Jason was about to offer his help to move it, but she just shifted it aside like it was nothing. Interesting.

"How did you do that?" he asked aloud. But she was staring at the wall, at something she was blocking from his view. "What?"

Lyra pointed to something on the wall and he looked around her, as stunned as she was at what she saw.

"I think I found what this key goes to." She said, holding up the little brass trinket that was in her hand.

There was a door in the wall.

Yay! Something that will finally help me in further chapters! Sorry for the cliffy. Well not really, I planned it that way. :D so I suppose you can guess the name of the next chapter: Lock. Pretty simple, I love doing little things like that that connect to one another.

So Jason is getting a teensy bit of heart in this chapter (referring to one of Yuna's many snooty comments in the 6th chapter I think), becoming a little bit more human. It's supposed to be sort of a 'spontaneous love' thing like in Underworld, the story it's based off of. Or if you have read _Midnight Sun, Twilight_ from Ed's point of view, you'll understand what I mean. And if you haven't read that, but like _Twilight,_ I recommend it. It's at Stephenie Meyer's website under Twilight series, go to the partial draft.

Update will be when I get reviews, so see you next time. I'm hoping it will be in a week, so people aren't whining or getting angry that I haven't updated, so please comment, it's really not that hard to say a few words about something you've read. I mean, who hasn't done that in English class? -.-

And also, Merry Christmas to all the Russians out there, because I know that a lot of Russian people celebrate Christmas on the 7th of January. С Рождеством!

-cally (^o^)


	14. Lock

_**Chapter 14: Lock**_

wow guys, i am so sorry for not updating! i've been busy drawing and being sick and doing school stuff, so forgot to update...sorry this chapter is a short one, but i say the same thing at the bottom. i haven't even finished the next chapter so i might have to hold off for longer next time too...

Wow, I just noticed that for the past few chapters, MW has been writing them in Times New Roman font instead of Calibri, the original font I had it in. Hey, it looks cooler that way and helps me distinguish my stories from one another. But oh well!

I hope to introduce a little more plot in this chapter and a little bit more of Lyra's family members. This chapter is from Jason's POV again, next chapter will be Lyra's.

DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN UNDERWORLD, IT'S KINDA OBVIOUS BY NOW

* * *

"Is that a door?" Jason asked in disbelief.

"I…think so. It must be why the key was on the top of my door frame. I wonder where it leads."

"You mean you don't know?" he asked, stunned again. It was her house and there was a door behind her dresser, how could she not know it was there?

"No."

"Why is there even a door there in the first place?" he mused to himself.

"If I knew why it was here, would I be wondering why it's here?" she asked dryly, answering his rhetorical question to himself.

"Well, you think you would have noticed if space was missing from your own house! Is there a laundry shoot or something on the other levels?"

"Not that I know of. I wonder where it leads…" Lyra said curiously and pushed the key into the lock. It turned with and ear-grating creak and slowly opened.

"Is that a staircase?" he asked, pointing to a metal railing that curved down into the darkness.

"I think so. Come on!" she said and grabbed his hand.

"What? Don't you think that you should tell your _brother_ that you found a _door_ in you wall? Besides, who knows how old or deep is it, the stairs could give out any minute!"

"Don't tell me you're a wuss." She smirked. "Fine then, we'll take a light." She pulled out a lighter from her pocket and started heading in.

"…Why do you have a lighter in your pocket? I hardly doubt that will be enough light." He continued, his instincts telling him to check it out while at the same time, he was cautious about anything that could hurt Lyra.

"Because I just do and yes, because if it was built the same time as this house, there are most likely candles down there that we can light." She explained smugly. Once again, she out thought him. "God, why are you always so negative?" she muttered half to herself. Now it was Jason's turn to smirk.

Climbing through the door, she cautiously placed one foot down and then the next. She bounced on it a few times, Jason cringing when it creaked like the rusty gates outside her house. Even though he was immortal, she wasn't and he didn't want his new-found infatuation dying on him.

"Come on, it's fine. The metal seems sturdy." She wiggled the railing and it really was steadier then he thought.

"Yeah, 'seems'." He grumbled. Squeezing in through the door that was just big enough for him, he realized how close he was to her and the lighter. While he was trying not to react to the fact that their bodies were almost touching, he was also avoiding the open flame. "Hey watch it!" he hissed when she turned and singed his hair a bit.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Come on let's see what's down there."

They cautiously made their way down the rickety steps, Jason being overly anxious about his human friend. They would probably fair quite differently if the stairs gave out and fell how ever many feet to the ground.

"Oh look!" Lyra exclaimed after a few feet and pointed at the wall. There were candles lined up and spaced 10 feet away from each other, just like she had guessed. "Told you so!" she stuck her tongue out at him childishly as she lit the candles one by one as they descended. Jason couldn't help but notice how the light played with her hair. "Geez, how long does thing go?" she said after awhile.

"We have to be underground by now." Jason said. They had been walking for the past 5 minutes, to the point that if there was nothing down there, he was going to be mad. That would be just his luck, that they would come to an empty room full of dirt.

"Yeah; maybe the guy who lived here before had a secret Frankenstein lab or something!" she cheered. Of course she would think of that. Suddenly Lyra gave out a little shriek and Jason grabbed her arm thinking the stairs had just ended in midair.

"What?" he asked nervously.

"The stairs are over." She said nearly breathlessly. "I really hope there are some candles down here, its pitch black."

"Yeah. I can't see anything." Jason agreed, though in truth he could. He could see as if the room were already lit; his eyesight didn't change with the amount of light. It looked like there was a desk covered in papers, more book shelves and some velvet chairs surrounding a work table.

"Let's light some candles down here." She said and walked over to the work table and lit some he had seen too. Jason's eyebrows knit together for a moment; how could she see, even with her puny little light? Perhaps he was _too_ used to the dark.

As the candles were light, the room came more into focus, for Lyra at least. As they walked around and explored the room, they found glass balls, tarot cards, papers scrawled on in Latin and musty old books.

"What the heck?" Jason scoffed as he read through one of the papers on desk, glad for his multilingual knowledge. They were the writings of a mad man, at least that's what they looked like to him.

"What?" Lyra asked, coming over from behind him. "Whoa. That guy must have been crazy!" she exclaimed after a minute, as if she were reading the inane words too.

"You know La-" he started to ask, but stopped when he turned to face her. A pair of big amber eyes stared back at him, right in front of his nose. "…Why is there a cat in my face?" he asked uncertainly.

"I found him sleeping on one of the chairs in the corner." She explained and pointed to a chair squeezed in between a wall and a bookshelf. "Isn't he adorable? You'd think after all these years that he's probably been alone he would be mean, but he's so nice." She said in a babyish voice and scratched the cat's ears so it was purring. "Pet him." The cat was shoved into his face again.

"I don't think I should." He said, holding out his hands as a warning. Ebony was the only exception he had ever come across, the only animal that wasn't afraid of him. A cat that had been shut down in a basement for years that had some how managed to survive by itself probably wasn't another one. The fact that its previous owner seemed crazy didn't help either.

"Are you allergic?"

"No. I just…don't like cats." He said lamely.

"But you have one." She scoffed. "Here." She shoved the blue bundle into his arms and he waited for the hissing and flying claws. But all he heard was a soft rumbling and then felt paws kneading his chest. "Aw! She's padding on you!" Lyra exclaimed, like a mother looking at her child in wonder.

"Uh…yeah, I guess she is." He replied, equally mystified.

How could a cat be down here? Wouldn't it need food and water and air? Unless the owner had left it enough supplies for years, but he highly doubted that.

"How does it get out? I mean there's no cat food or water down here. I hope it gets out, there's no litter box either!" Jason laughed quietly at her surprised and disgusted expression.

The furry ball suddenly leaped from his arms and turned to star at then with its gold eyes. Then the cat started to walk away, turning it bluish-gray tail on them.

"Hey, maybe it's going toward the exit!" Lyra said and thoughtlessly ran after it. Jason followed just to make sure she didn't fall down a pothole or run into a booby trap.

After about 3 minutes of running to keep up with the cat, there was a door ahead. The old-fashioned wood plank kind that weighed a ton and had a metal handle and wood barricade. The cat slipped out a little hole down near the bottom of the door; a cat door.

"Try opening it." Lyra nudged him. He walked forward and pulled out the board of wood, setting it against the wall. Forgetting about playing the charade of a weak little human, he pushed the door open easily. He smiled and turned back to Lyra, who was staring at him in wonder now. "Thanks." She said neutrally as she walked through it. It led to a little pond outside that sort of looked like the one in her front yard.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Well, we can't be too far, less than a mile. I bet we can find our way back."

"What time is it?"

"About 5:30. Wow, it's already getting dark." Jason pointed out, looking through the trees at the sky. "We must be in the woods around your house."

"I hope so!" she cheered strangely and then headed off in some random direction.

"What are you doing? Do you want to get us more lost?"

"Well, I've wanted to explore the forest for a while now."

"What will your siblings do if we just walk in through the front door? We didn't exactly leave, at least to their knowledge. Then we'll have to tell them about that secret tunnel thing." He explained, hoping he had guessed right on her reaction. If she had found something, she would want it to stay hidden, especially something like this.

"Oh, right…well I guess we can explore next time." She said sullenly and protectively headed toward the tunnel again. Jason smiled to himself at her hasty and determined pace.

She wasn't the only one who wanted to keep it a secret.

* * *

Jason turned out to be right; they had been gone for maybe a half an hour or 45 minutes when they got back and nobody had noticed. Lyra had carefully shut the door and blown out all the candles before they got back up to her room. Jason was surprised that she didn't have to stop for breath or something; usually humans had to do that after climbing 2 or 3 flights of stairs and they had been climbing for 5 minutes.

"We should so decorate that place! Can you imagine what it would look like? We could tell Jalis that we're going out or something and then go down there! This will be perfect!" the exclaimed and she bounced off the walls of her room with excitement.

"You act like it's some top secret lab or something. It's just some dusty old room that takes more time to get to than it's worth."

Lyra gasped at him like he had just admitted to a murder.

"How can you say that? Do you know how old this house is? It's antique and that room could have been 'some top secret lab or something' to the people who have lived here! We have discovered something major!"

"It's just a room Lyra calm down." He warned, but for his own sake.

"Let's see, I have some extra pillows and stuff that we can put down there…and maybe we can restore the furniture or get new chairs and a couch. I bet it would be something Yuna would like…" she mused.

Jason's heart clenched. Yeah, it was a pretty cool discovery and Yuna was his best friend, but he liked the thought of something just being _him and Lyra's._ It felt nice to think that maybe they had something else in common, something just their own. They were so different and he knew that they probably had no chance at something else, but opposites attract, if they don't blow up in each others faces. Perhaps it could work, if he played his cards right. And resisted killing her too…

"…but then again you were the one I found it with not her. Oh well, we'll decide on that later! I'm hungry, let's go get food." She chirped and rushed out her bedroom door.

Jason stared after her for a moment trying to figure out what was going through her head. When she impatiently came back for him, he followed her eagerly. Maybe there could be something there.

* * *

Kk, I know that that was a shorty chapter but I couldn't think of anything else to add. The main point was reached so…there lol.

The next chapter will be from Lyra's POV just so you know. See you all again when I get reviews! :D

-cally (^o^)


	15. Nightmare from the Dark

_**Chapter 15: Nightmare from the Dark**_

Oh my god, i am so sorry for the...lets see, 3 week update span? yeah, about there...anyways, my internet was down so i couldn't even use my computer for anything besides watching movies and stuff like that...just a hint for those of you who are looking/might get new internet: DO NOT GET VERISON MIFI! it sucks and went down NATIONWIDE for TWO WEEKS. so yeah, thats why i haven't updated in so long and why it might happen again. i'm sorry you guys =C

This chapter is from Lyra's POV this time. The chapters might be getting a wee bit shorter now, because my writing juices are turning into drawing juices instead. I've been watching lots of anime lately so maybe that's why XD Anyways, I don't know if the content of this chapter counts as plot or not, but just a warning to those of you who scare easily: be careful. I scared the shit out of myself writing the ending part and it didn't help that I was on a caffeine high and had just seen a commercial for a horror movie. I'm not sure how scary it is exactly, but I was so freaked out when I wrote it, so considered yourself warned…

DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN ANYTHING BUT MY CHARACTERS. AND MY BRAIN THAT THOUGHT UP THE PLOT.

* * *

The bright light filled Lyra's eyes as she felt the change take hold. It had literally happened thousands of time, both forcefully and willingly, but the thrill she felt never ceased. Adrenaline flooded her veins, fuelling her even more. She wanted to run and never stop. She wanted to see everything with her new eyes, know everything there was to know about the mysterious world she lived in.

The slight twinge of pain passed quickly; the only unpleasant part of the transformation. Lyra's eyes grew brighter, almost solidifying, and her pupils focused on all the shadows in the large room her cell stood in. Her claws extended and her spine arched in an attempt to get her huge, monstrous form up off the ground. She knew she didn't have much longer until she would black out, so she enjoyed the feeling of being free for the few seconds she had left.

Every sight and sound was heightened; Jalis shuffling up in his room, Evain talking to Alex on the phone and Serena blabbering to Evain about…something.

The voices faded and Lyra's eyes started to go white around the edges, as if she were passing out. Her mind slowly resided, letting the spirit of her wolf take over.

* * *

The stone floor of the basement was cold on Lyra's bare back. Her ears listened to the sounds above her. Or rather, the absence of the sounds that should have been there.

Lyra's eyes finally opened, her foggy mind growing wary at the silence. Shouldn't Jalis and Evain be getting ready by now?

She sat up and stretched her aching muscles. Her cold hand dragged across the floor and touched something soft. Looking over, she saw that it was a robe. Maybe Jalis had put it there…

Making her way up the stairs, Lyra opened up the door slowly and looked around. Where was everybody? It was only 6 am at the latest; at least that's what the time should have been. Lyra, realizing this, rushed to the kitchen and groaned when she saw the time.

It was 10:17 in the morning. So much for not being late to school one day.

Irked that Jalis didn't wake her up, she grabbed the phone and roughly dialed his work extension number.

"Jalis Atrio speaking."

"Why didn't you wake me up? Now I'll have to skip, there's no point in going now!" she thundered in response.

"Well sorry for not wanting another scar from your teeth."

"What?"

"You were still snarling and kicking in your wolf form at 7, so I just decided to let you be. Besides, you've been in school a billion times, I hardly doubt your missing anything important." He explained.

"Besides being able to be with them." Lyra thought in annoyance. "You mean _him_." She corrected mentally.

"But…" she whined, not sure what she wanted to say.

"Well, at least now you have a whole day to relax by yourself. Evain and me have to stay late tonight, so you have like 6 hours to do whatever you want to." He replied cheerily.

"Fine." Lyra grumbled and disconnected the line. It wasn't really Jalis's fault, but she was mad all the same. "What am I supposed to do for 6 hours?"

Deciding to make the most of being alone, she wandered around aimlessly; watching TV in her robe, poking around Jalis's room for some game to play. She found some and that busied her for a while, but something was nagging at her from the back of her mind.

Why hadn't she woken up?

Usually she would wake up around 6 am, 5 even, but this time she was nearly 5 hours 'late', which was very uncommon and a little worrying. She had been bitten and had first transformed at around 6 am that morning long ago, so it was usually a tight schedule, as it was with most Lycans. Varying far from that was only ever the result of weakness from an injury or the presence of something else, like a vampire or another Lycan. She was used to vampires so it had no effect anymore, so why was it happening now? Everybody else was 'clean' from any demonic presence unlike her family and herself, so it made no sense.

"Gah!" Lyra groaned and sank her head down onto her folded knees. What was she thinking? Paranoia was never something to get to her; in fact she usually headed _towards _the cause for worry instead of going away. "School really must be getting to me. Stupid humans."

In the smallest attempt to steady her nerves, the girl got up and decided to run up their water bill with a hot shower. When that didn't work, she downed a few cups of her favorite tea. When _that _didn't work, she powered up her laptop and skimmed the internet, going to her email, her different accounts on art websites. Nothing seemed to tranquilize her mind like she hoped, until she went to her Picture file. What better to do then her favorite hobby?

Bolting out of the house in a blur, Lyra grabbed her pad and pencils, searching for something to draw. They had been in this house for a while, at least long enough for her to draw everything for every angle, so it was boring now. She thought of how Jason and she had found their secret room and was surprised that she had forgotten about that. But now she was determined for something else.

She searched and searched, retracing their steps from a week and a half ago. During this time she got a nice view of their land, her photographic mind memorizing every tree and rock. Finally she found what she was searching for and plopped down, her hands flying across the paper, eager to get started and to finish.

After nearly doing the scene two times over, Lyra held out her work and admired it. It wasn't like anything she had drawn before, but that was why it was special. Maybe she could give it to Jason; he had seemed interested in her drawings.

It was quite the scene to behold. It was the exit from the secret room in her house, the one her and Jason had discovered. The trees draped over the short stone walls, eager to hide and grab with their tendrils of leaves. The shadows around it created a haunting illusion, as if it were from the stone ages instead of at the most a few centuries.

She sat there for about 10 second before getting bored and looking for something else to draw. She had so much artistic energy to vent, the urge was almost violent.

So she stumbled around her vast acres of property, drawing scenes she found even remotely interesting. None of them measured up to the stone exit, but it was still something to do. But with her hyperactive, ADHD mind, Lyra found it boring. Again.

"Gah!" she yelled and flopped down onto the ground with her drawing board to her chest. For once, she actually wished she had gone to school, and not just to see her friends. Now she realized what it felt like to Jalis when he was all alone, why he complained he was bored so much.

Getting up to go home and fill her now empty and complaining stomach, Lyra started walking the direction she came from. But she must have gone the wrong way in her hungry and slightly tired daze, because soon she was in unfamiliar territory.

"What the hell? How do _I_ get lost?" she wondered aloud. But in her inattentive state, she soon lost her footing and tripped over a rather painful rock. Cursing, she looked to her left, so find the culprit. But what she saw wasn't just one rock, but giant building blocks going in a large semi-circle around her. When she looked down at the ground, she found that she was lying atop a patio-like floor of broken cobblestones covered in a thick layer of moss. "Wha?..." she mumbled around the slightly swollen lip she had bitten as she fell.

With her long nails, she clawed away some of the moss and found Latin words scribbled all over the stones. Looking around for something sharp and pointy, she broke off a piece of the rock she tripped over and scraped away stone after stone, unearthing strange quotations and some things that didn't even make sense. Most if it was literally just scribbles.

As she was scrubbing furiously with the rock, she hit something hard. As she unearthed it, it was revealed to be a handle. Sort of like the ones on her houses front doors.

Knowing she should turn back from all the cryptic 'bewares' and 'leave now before It comes' scrawled in _Latin _on the bricks bellow her, the temptation was too much. Her werewolf instincts urged her forward, but her long buried human instincts told her to run. But she had been a werewolf far longer than she had been a human, so they eventually won out over a few seconds of internal warring.

She **had** to know what was behind this door. Who knew, perhaps it could lead back to her house. Or even better: to _another _secret room!

Using her awesome Lycan strength, Lyra pulled the door open probably too roughly, ripping out the roots of all the moss attached to it. Smiling to herself at her new great discovery, she started to take a step down when a cold gust of air hit her smack in the face. Then for the first time, she looked down.

The blackness past the door below her was vast and open, hardly anything visible even with her enhanced werewolf sight from the full moon cycle. Cave dark. It was actually started to freak Lyra out. In one of those old horror movies she loved so much, now would be the time for something to jump out and pull her down or try to maim her in some way.

Another gust of wind hit her again, only this time it was warm. Then the wind seemed to come from behind her, and she turned to see if something was there. There was nothing. Lyra slowly turned back to the door, expecting to see some deranged looking person thing crawling on all fours up the stairs she could start to see. But there was nothing but more wind; back and forth, for the several minutes she stood there paralyzed. It was the first time she ever felt truly scared since she had become a Lycan, a creature born from darkness itself.

Just out of paranoia, she stood and waiting, watching and listening. Nothing happened besides the eerie wind moving around her. It was almost like a presence in and of itself. Like the cave below her was breathing…

Her human instincts came back with a vengeance, and suddenly she bolted in the opposite directing, speeding through the woods away from that darkness in any direction possible. She had to get away from that presence, that air…

She rushed inside the house, realizing it had gotten late and her family should be home soon. She slammed the doors shut, half expecting to feel a large crash on the other side. She slid down to a fetal position in the entry way, breathing raggedly. What the hell had just happened? She had been having a fun day, until she found probably the coolest and scariest thing in her entire life. It was so intriguing, like the dark was pulling her in and at the same time she wanted to bolt for her life. As she had been running home, she was almost certain something had been following her. Every sound from the scuttling mice in the leaves to the bolting of deer that had been frightened by her speed made her jump and run faster.

"Get it straight…" she muttered to herself in Russian. Goosebumps covered her shaking arms and she yanked a blanket from the couch, bundling up and laying down. She was going to watch that door all night if she had to. That thing wasn't getting in here.

She didn't notice the lights turn off as she fell asleep.

* * *

"Lyra…Lyra…" a voice cooed from far away. "Get up…I have to give this back…"

Lyra felt herself being shaken by something warm on her arm. Droplets of something wet landed on her face as she opened her eyes. A dark form was standing above her, holding something square out to her. She couldn't make it out, but they looked like Jalis…

She reached for the board and took it. Something poked her hand and she looked down to see a pencil attached to a piece of mat board by tape. Her drawing board. The one she had left at the sight of the cave. Lyra's muscles froze and after a minute she reached up to her face and rubbed some of the wetness off. Looking at her hand, it was something sticky and red…

Lyra looked up to fangs and glowing blue eyes, coming closer to her face in the darkness that was suddenly pitch black. Letting out a blood curdling scream, she punched the thing in the face and started hitting it in the head with her board.

"Hey! What the hell is wrong with you, stop!" Jalis yelled. Lyra stopped and looked down as the lights were turned on, seeing a bewildered Evain standing by the door with her hand on the light switch and a scared Jalis on the floor. "What the heck was that for! I was just trying to wake you up!" Jalis asked crossly, rubbing his head and cheek where she had hit him. But she was too busy shaking to respond.

Eventually, after his whining went unanswered, Jalis noticed and rushed back up to her side.

"Lyra are you okay? You're shaking a lot…"

"Why are you wet?" she asked strangely, feeling around her face for more of the blood. But all that came off onto her hands was water dripping from her brother's long hair.

"It's raining outside…" he said warily, like she was going to shatter from the slightest touch. She looked like she would, and it was the 1st time either him or Evain had seen her this way. "Alex wanted me to give this to you, since you were looking for work and something to do." He said and handed her one of the squishy, thick mailing envelopes. "It's some files he needs translated into lots of languages and you know most of them…but I can take it back if you're not feeling good."

"No." she interrupted. "I'm fine. Sorry, I just got a little freaked out by something." Things were starting to make sense; she must have been half asleep when they got home and the events in real life turned into stuff from her nightmare. Like the blood and the board.

"What could possibly make _you_ this freaked out? I mean you're practically hyperventilating. You, the girl who goes out looking for demons to kill and who watches _Hostel_ for fun!" Evain exclaimed as she hung up her coat.

"Dammit, now she has the worried-mother look on her face…" Lyra thought in irritation. She said she was fine and even if it was a lie, she wanted to be left alone for the moment.

"I'm fine. I'll start on this." She grabbed the package Jalis had given her and marched up to her room. She made sure to lock all the doors, double check the secret door and close her windows before going to sleep.

* * *

Despite her best efforts at reassuring her brother and sister that she was fine, Evain ended up staying the night while Lyra was downstairs in her cell again, glad that her mind was gone and that she could no longer think about the events of her night.

She was greeted by and overly optimistic Evain and Serena, and a very tired looking Jalis. After a nice breakfast was prepared, serena made a big fuss about how Lyra should come shopping with her to get her mind of things. Evain started nagging her about not being subtle.

But Lyra blew them off. She had more important things to do. Like go find her lost drawing pad and to block the hell out of that door. Despite her itching curiosity about the hole, she knew she wouldn't be able to go in and she didn't want another nightmare. Besides, she had actually planned on giving that sketch of the secret room exit to Jason the next time she saw him at school, which wouldn't be for a few days if her transformations kept their recent timing.

But her hopes were smashed as soon as she reached the point of the door. Because her pad was nowhere to be seen. When the realization hit her that she had dropped it and it wasn't here anymore, she was about to run when she noticed something else.

The door was closed. And the moss wasn't ripped up like she had left it. Whoever had been there had done her intended work for her, and had taken the only proof of last night with them.

* * *

You know the drill, you review and I update. I hope this was an okay chapter…I kinda started it and then finished it 2 weeks later, so the whole thing might be a little…off. Not to mention the cave part. I have an active imagination so it was all too easy for me to picture in my head perfectly what I was writing about, so sorry if it got too creepy. But _Underworld_ is a horror movie, and it is based off of that, so I guess it's a no-brainer that there had to be horror in it. Just a little bit.

And yes _Hostel_ is a real movie. I've never seen it but it's supposed to be scary as hell so if you're into blood and guts and stuff, watch it.

By the way, I have only been getting one or two reviews per chapter, and so far they have been from the same people, so for all of those who are actually reading this part, please comment and tell me what you think. I don't care if you say I'm a creep and to go to an asylum for this chappie, but just say something.

-cally (^o^)


	16. Nickname with a Flyer

SOOOO SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE! I was going to update the 26th because it's exactly 2 weeks from the last update, but then I remembered it was my birthday that day XD yeah, I'm stupid, I know. But as I was going to update the next day, I left my computer alone for 2 minutes, came back downstairs and found that my little sister had knocked my laptop off my desk, snapping my flash drive (the one that had THIS story on it) in two. So yeah, not the best birthday present. I mean she's 14 for God's sake!...*grumble mutter* Not to mention how I lost my almost done Clack story (from Final Fantasy 7), I also lost my Vampire Diaries story, the plot and outline for this story and character info for all stories. So after this chapter, I'll have to hold off until I get everything straight. Probably around 3 weeks. Sorry guys!

Anyways, Lyra's POV again this chapter. I promise it won't be as weird as the last one, I actually hope it will be humorous and funny. This one will focus I little bit more on the characters at her school instead of her family. Their 15 minutes of fame are up XD yeah, I know that wasn't that funny…

Anyways, I was looking at the visitors/chapter and the first and last two (1,2,14,15) are getting like 30 views so far each/month and the ones in the middle are getting around 10…just wondering why that is…so tell me if you know why in a review lol (not just that though…)

DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN UNDERWORLD, JUST USING IT FOR MY OWN NON-$ ENTERTAINMENT

Housework wasn't something that Lyra liked to do. Especially when it didn't have to be done. Cooking sure. But not cleaning; good thing she wasn't that big of a slob.

But this time was different. It was something she wanted to do because she could share it with someone who she wanted to like her. Who she wanted to impress. Too bad she didn't know what exactly Jason Kell liked.

Hands on her hips, Lyra had been standing in the middle of the secret room her friend and her had discovered together for at least 10 minutes. She had wiped away all the cobwebs, refurnished the furniture and even installed some electric plugs for lamps and such. But it was still too bland and she didn't know what the hell to do to it. She knew what she liked, but Jason probably would object; or at least pretend to like it, as he seemed the type to do that.

Why did men have to be so difficult? She had never figured that out in the amount of time she had existed.

Her pocket vibrated and she jumped, quickly taking it out. It was noon and her alarm had gone off. She had a meeting in an hour with Alex. Dammit. Musing would have to wait for another day.

Just as she was leaving something crunched behind her. Slowly she turned to see what it was, expecting the worst after the whole cave thing. But as she looked around she saw nothing, until she looked to the ground. A little blue jay was hoping around on the floor, tweeting and flapping like its wings didn't work.

"Poor thing…" she muttered as she bent down to look at it. Surprisingly, it hoped towards her instead of away, like it knew her or something. It looked her in the eye, almost asking for help. Though its eyes were flat black, like any other birds, it looked familiar.

Jason. The blue of its feathers reminded her of his startling blue eyes. She bent down to touch it but, being a bird, it immediately pecked her finger, successfully breaking the skin. Well, it had more in common with a certain someone then just its color, she thought dryly.

The tiny wound closed quickly with her regenerative powers as she scowled at the bird. She grabbed the feather duster she had been using and started shooing it toward the door at the end of the only hallway. Once outside, it flew quickly out of sight, leaving Lyra standing alone in the doorway.

As she watched it fly away, a strange sense of nostalgia took over. It was flying away, leaving, like her human family had and all of her friends. Or at least from what she could remember from her mortal days. Every time they had to move because people noticed she wasn't aging, or that she was too good at some things a human shouldn't be, she had to leave everything behind, everything important. Just like the little bird was doing, except it wasn't going to miss or probably even remember the short 3 minutes it had spent with her.

"You're such an old lady." She snorted to herself. Reflecting like that was for old people, as in the wrinkly kind, not the never-aging kind, she had always thought. She turned back and her face fell as she remembered what was in store for the rest of the day. Picking up all of her cleaning instruments, she huffed up to her room in an angry thunder.

Great; now all she had to do was sit through six hours of Alex and friends chatting about business that didn't concern her. As she quickly shot up the many flights of stairs (which she was planning on repairing as well), she mused angrily about how she had never wished for a school day to come fast enough as tomorrow.

Despite her eager wishing the day before, Mondays were still Mondays. Lots of homework, tired students and teachers and of course, the famous 'chicken and gravy' (or so the chefs wanted them to believe) for lunch. Still, it was better than being surrounded by idiot vampires for half a day.

Her brain was numb from all the hubbub of the school, annoyed by all the narrow minded humans. And the sad part was that 1st hour hadn't even started yet.

She sat with her new found 4 friends in the cafeteria, staring daggers at Erin Somer while simultaneously drawing a picture in one of her notebooks. Yuna sat talking with an animated Steve while Kida read a book and Jason sat with his head on his folded arms. Just to make sure that he wasn't sleeping, Lyra poked his head with the sharp end of her pencil.

"Ow." He muttered around his arms, not even moving.

"Baby." She countered and continued drawing.

"I see that for once you aren't hyper. Monday getting to you? Finally?" he jabbed. So she poked him again.

"Yes, if you must know. I'm getting sick of just sitting here. I mean seriously, do they have to have a pep fest for every single holiday?" she complained. Halloween was fun, and one of her favorite holidays, but the school was going overboard.

"Well, small towns usually do stuff like that." Jason explained as he finally unfolded himself from his sleeping position. He stretched his arms behind him, showing off the muscles in her biceps. Suddenly Lyra was hateful toward the fitting shirt he wore today and toward the blush that was crawling across her face. "You okay?" he asked, noticing her colored face.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She said, continuing to draw on her paper while going back to glaring at a certain football head.

"Watcha drawing?" he asked groggily, wiping his eyes.

"Nothin'." She said secretively, immediately arousing suspicion in the black haired boy. He tried to peek around her shoulder but was poked again with a very pointy pencil.

"I just want to see." He whined. Yuna snickered at his tone of voice. Kida looked around Lyra's other shoulder at the drawing and then giggled herself at Lyra's choice of style in the drawing. Irritated, Jason just grabbed the top of her notebook and yanked it down so he could see. He then gave her a very irked look. "Really?" he asked dryly.

Lyra pouted and slapped his hand off, ignoring the eyes that rolled at her childish response. It was a little picture that was actually quite funny; it was all of her friends around her, but chibified, anime style. Jason had a bored, blank look on his face with his head propped up by his hands, Kida with an interested cat face reading her book and Yuna with Steve, yapping about something.

"It's not that bad." She muttered, half to herself.

"I never said it was; it's just ridiculous." Jason answered. Lyra glared at him.

"That was rhetorical." She snapped. Thankfully the bell rang, signaling for them to get to class in the 7 minutes they had. Grabbing her bag, she huffed away, leaving an angry Yuna, an annoyed Jason and two confused looking sophomores.

First hour flew by and so did every other class until 3rd hour. It was the only time during the day that she looked forward to, but now she was a little reluctant to go and sit with the annoying Greek boy she had been insulted by.

Walking briskly to her group where Yuna and Jason sat she sat down with her pile of books and papers. The two others at the desks were too busy chatting to talk to her at the moment, though she saw Jason's guilty eyes look at her.

As she was doodling, and partially listening to the conversation across from her, Lyra looked out the window they sat next to. Trees surrounded the entire building and in the one next to the English room, a bird was hoping around on a branch, protecting the tiny nest above it. The sight of the bird sparked a memory, which in turn sparked a question.

"If you could be any animal, what would you be?" she asked randomly, turning to look expectantly at her friends. Then she realized she had interrupted their conversation and cleared her throat, dismissing the question. They continued for a minute before Yuna answered her.

"Well, I would probably want to be…a cat." She said.

"Why?"

"They're cute, they're good at jumping and running and people usually tend to like them. It wouldn't be so bad to just lie around all day and do whatever I want." She mused.

"Yeah, but if you turned into a cat, you would probably have a cat brain so you wouldn't think like that anymore. Besides, cats can't do some of the stuff humans do." Jason interjected.

"So? It'd still be awesome." Yuna chimed. "What about you?" she turned to Lyra.

"Let me guess…" Jason muttered right as Lyra answered.

"A wolf." She said with a mischievous grin that Yuna couldn't quite understand; like she was enjoying a private joke.

"Yep." Jason finished, smiling a tiny smile. Lyra stared at that smile, admiring it, before she asked him of his choice.

"I dunno…a bird I guess. It'd be nice to be able to fly, to go wherever I want and see everything. They have great sight too; some of them anyway."

Lyra was partially surprised by this answer, mostly because she had been expecting some sort of predator animal, instead of prey.

"How poetic." She jibbed, elbowing his arm. He smiled at her sarcasm, shrugging his shoulders.

Yuna continued to talk about the subject until class was over (and the teacher wasn't yelling at her to be quiet) and they were walking to their classes. Lyra hadn't said a word since she broached the topic and had a strangely thoughtful look on her face.

"You okay?" Jason asked as Yuna stopped by her locker.

"What kind of bird would you be?" she wondered aloud, not really talking to him or herself.

"Maybe a robin or a bluebird. I don't know, I don't sit around trying to think of what kind of animal I would want to be." He mocked. Lyra stuck out her tongue at him, making him laugh. "Why so curious?"

"I saw a bird yesterday and it reminded me of you, so it was kinda ironic that you chose a bird as the animal you want to be."

"…A bird reminded you of me?" he asked skeptically.

"Yeah…" she said, blushing slightly. Jason's hand twitched like he wanted to touch those pink cheeks, and how Lyra wanted him to, but of course the stupid bell had to ring. They both sighed and made their way to their classes.

The last two hours and lunch passed very slowly, tormenting Lyra as she stewed an idea around in her head. She had made a connection between something's and she was desperate to try it out.

So when the final bell rang, she flew to her locker, partially forgetting the humans around her. She made sure to get to the bike rack before Jason and Yuna, having her chain undone by the time they got there.

"Hey!" She greeted enthusiastically. Yuna started talking to her about her last hours while Jason unchained his bike, her eyes only trained on him. She was getting quite the nice view of his ass, something she had never really taken an interest in until she met this boy. Unbeknownst to her, Yuna followed her gaze and smirked.

"So I was-Ow!" the Japanese girl yelled! Both other teenagers turned to look at her.

"What?" Jason asked when there didn't seem to be any obvious problem. Yuna bent over and picked up a piece of paper that was suddenly by her feet.

"This thing gave me a paper cut!" she whined, waving it in his face. Lyra snatched it from her, her eyes widening as she read it. Right when Jason was about to ask her what was wrong, a devilish grin spread across her face.

"Looks like I do have something to do on Halloween after all."

Jason took the flyer from her, his eyes widening too before he sighed dramatically.

"Oh boy…" he whispered as Lyra eagerly started toward her bike and Yuna read it too.

"You're not seriously considering this are you?" he growled as she pedaled past him.

"Oh course I am Jay! This is a golden opportunity!" she yelled over her shoulder.

"Well-wait, what did you call me?" he yelled back, but she was too far away to respond, or rather to want to respond.

Somer was having a Halloween party, and she was going to be the surprise guest of honor.

Okay, not the best ending, but I just wanted her to come up with that nickname all along. I think it's cute, her giving him a nickname like that. It will be explained in the next chapter, for those of you who don't get it.

Again, sorry for the super late update. Since pretty much all my files, or the ones that I plan the story along on, are gone, I'm gonna have to wait awhile before next chapter, like I said in the beginning. 3-4 weeks probably (still looking for reviews before I update), 'cause I have to rewrite and reread all of my stuff now to replace the stuff I lost.

Also, I just released a new two-shot about my favorite sexy men from the manga/anime D. Gray-man, but it's rated M, yaoi and stuff like that. If you're interested it on my profile page! :D

-cally (^o^)


	17. Party

Alright, here is the 17th chapter! I kind of hit a BIG writer's wall and started another story, but I'm gettin' back into this one, so please bear with me and help me out a little. I still have to rewrite that outline and plot thing, and now that I have a more firm guideline as to how to do that (many thanks to Ziggy Pasta), it'll most likely be updated more often than a few months apart, like last time. REALLY SORRY BOUT THAT GUYS, I'm trying really hard!

**Summary:** This chapter is a plot chapter so pay attention my little bunnies. A big secret is revealed and the puzzle is starting to fit together; there is lots of stuff that is tied up and a few things that will be explained later. There's something about a missing girl that is mentioned and I never wrote about that, but it's not a big part, so don't worry about it :D it gets a little more intense and just tell me in a REVIEW if it's too intense too fast.

Oh, and this chapter is probably the only chapter that will switch between Lyra and Jason's POV's. There wasn't enough to do two separate chapters, but too little to do from just one. It's only Lyra's POV twice, the rest is Jason's :D

DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN, NOT USING FOR PROFIT, JUST ENTERTAINMENT.

* * *

A lot of people like fall; the leaves are pretty colors, it's a comfortable temperature and there are quite a few days off from school in this season. But for Jason Kell, it was his least favorite season. Why?

Halloween.

It was a ridiculous holiday that had lost its true meaning, even its true name. Somehow it had gone from trying to ward off evil to kids running around in horrible costumes asking for candy otherwise they would do something equally horrible to you. Personally, children were horrible enough, but this year he was expected to flock amongst them. Against his will. Because of a certain pair of Goths, one of which he happened to have feelings for.

Stupid hormones. He would be better off without them.

"Jason! They're here!" Lilith called for him from his room. He hung his head before going out to meet them in the entryway. But when he caught site of them, suddenly he couldn't form a coherent thought. Well, maybe one.

What. The. Hell.

The first thing he noticed was the Asian girl, who was possibly Yuna, next to the other. Her hair was long, silky, curly and a deep brown. She was wearing a pink shirt with a short white skirt and tennis shoes, as if she were a tennis player. Her face had a healthy olive toned glow and there was a faint hint of sparkles on her eyelids.

"…Yuna?" he asked in disbelief.

"Hi!" she chirped. "Can you believe it? Lyra spent like two hours doing my costume! What do you think?" she spun around in a circle twice.

"How did you get all the dye out?" he asked, half curious and half joking.

"Oh my god, that itself took an hour and a half to do! Doesn't she look cute though? Her natural hair color is so pretty!" Lyra beamed at her work, drawing Jason's attention to her. Probably not the best thing to do, if keeping a clear mind was his goal.

She was even more beautiful than usual. Her hair was in a bun on the back of her head, showing the many Gothic and Celtic style necklaces around her thin neck. She wore a red and black tube top corset with a sleeveless fishnet tank under it. A red and black layered skirt was over more fishnet, stockings, and then high heel boots. Her makeup was extraordinary, making her look…almost like a vampire. She was certainly pale enough.

Jason realized he had been staring perhaps a bit too long when he heard Claude laugh behind him.

"Well, you two seem like you are enjoying the holiday." Claude laughed. "Don't tell me you want candy."

"You should know me by now." Yuna laughed and rounded the half-wall to the kitchen, hunting for the candy basket they had for trick-or-treaters.

"Where on Earth did you get that costume?" Lilith asked when she saw Lyra, her eyes widening in wonder.

"Let me guess…" Jason mumbled.

"Hot Topic."

"…Yep." He finished. He was glad he could at least guess some things right about her.

"Let's go, we have a party to crash!" she chimed, Yuna giggling in suit. His hand was pulled and then they were out the door, to the place he least wanted to be on his least favorite night.

* * *

It was crowded, more so than Jason could have imagined. Well, Erin was the most popular prick at their school. Cheerleaders and preps flounced around in their mini dresses and high heels. And just when he thought they couldn't have gotten sluttier than they already were.

Since they were so many people around, they could sneak by inconspicuously; well, at least the girls could. Jason was one of the tallest guys at school, so pretty much everybody noticed him. And the fact that he wasn't in a costume.

He immediately went and stood over by a corner, not sure why he even let himself be dragged into this mess. But it was worth it, as long as he got to be by her and Yuna. At least they were having fun.

* * *

Jason was a stick-in-the-mud for Lyra's little conquest, but she wouldn't let that get her down. Yuna was here and was already talking to somebody. Lyra was glad she had gotten the Goth girl to come along with her. Here, on Halloween, she blended in just fine even if her costume wasn't really a costume to the others.

Her curiosity getting the better of her, she started sneaking her way through the impressive crowd of people. Against her better judgment, she looked for Erin. She wanted to show the prick that she could do what she wanted, as he seemed to think that she couldn't.

As she would have guessed, he was in the back yard around the bonfire, a beer in his hand.

"Crap, it won't be as fun if he's drunk." She thought. She marched over to him but before she reached him, he saw her and finished the distance between them. Immediately he swung his arm around her shoulders, a crooked grin on his face.

"Please don't tell me you're drunk!" she exclaimed. He just grinned wider. Crap.

"Finally decided to admit it huh? I have to say, I thought it would take a bit longer with someone like you." He said and slid his hand down to her waist.

"Admit what?"

In answer, he slid his hand even lower, which made Lyra stop and smack him square in the jaw. He staggered back, but in a mocking, infuriating way. Faster than she thought possible of him, he grabbed her face and kissed him. She shoved him away again. Even though he was a prick and everybody knew it, this was a little too far.

She turned around and marched into the house, angrily pushing through the crowd of people. She noticed some stairs going up and down and, just to annoy a certain asshole, decided to poke around. Maybe even tinker with some things, just to make his life more difficult.

When she finally decided on going upstairs first, she rather wished she hadn't. Like any classic teenage party that didn't have the adult chaperones, kids where pressed up against walls and each other, practically eating each other's faces off. She scoffed in disgust and was thoroughly revolted when she heard muffled groans coming from two of the rooms. She opened doors and finally found Erin's bedroom, grinning evilly.

"Oh, I am sooo going to enjoy this…" she whispered to herself. First, she cut his pillows and spread the feathers all over his rooms and tore the sheets with her long and sharp Lycan claws. Having mercy on his bedspread, she simply sprayed some shaving foam onto it that she found hidden in his dresser. She searched through his closet and took everything off the hangers, throwing it around.

Not being able to help herself, and knowing she could get caught any minute, after she finished her revenge on the prick of a human, she started snooping. She looked through the drawers in his night tables, dresser and computer desk.

Even though his was human and was a jerk, there was still something not exactly right with him. Like when he grabbed her, it had actually hurt, unlike a human's normal grasp. And when he had cornered her after school and Jason had shooed him off, his grip on her waist had seemed too strong.

Hopefully she would find steroids or weed to support her claim of him being on drugs, though the few times she told him to his face as a comeback, she had been joking.

After a few minutes of fruitless searching, she was about to leave when she remembered the number one place for hiding things that she hadn't even checked: under a bed. Cautiously, she peeked out into the hallway to look for any wandering students, even though she was on the 3rd floor of the mansion and she hadn't seen a soul coming up.

When the coast was clear, she flashed over and kneeled down, scanning the boxes underneath the frame holding up the queen mattress. There were boxes labeled, OLD, DONATE, BACK-UPS and etc. not to mention all the candy, gum and used condom wrappers scattered about. Ew.

But just to be sure, she reached under and pulled out the BACK-UPS box. 'Back-ups' could mean anything. Was it wads of money in case he needed some? Or was it bricks of drugs or alcohol bottles as back-ups in case he ran out at a party or something?

She eagerly opened it up and was severely disappointed when it was just some slightly dirty football jerseys and pads. Pouting, she was about to shove the box back in when she saw something. It was a smaller box, that was thin and long, like a document package you would send in the mail. She took it out and noticed the date for the delivery was for a few years ago, so it must just be storage for something.

She froze when she opened it and stared in disbelief at what was inside. Maybe trashing his room wasn't such a good idea, not if this was what she thought it was. Shit, she could be in a lot more trouble than she thought possible if this meant what she suspected.

With shaking hands, she took the folder out and placed the pencil and clipboard on the side. Flipping through the pages, her eyes got bigger with every picture and the hair on the back of her neck rose more and more.

What the hell was he doing with her missing drawing pad?

* * *

It was getting late. Not that Jason had a problem with that, but Lyra had said she was going to find Erin and give him a piece of her mind half an hour ago. She should have done that by now.

He started debating whether or not to go and look for her. He knew if she really was just wandering about, or beating Erin down and he came looking for her that she would be angry with him for being 'protective' and maybe a little embarrassed. But then again, if she was in trouble…well, Erin would be too.

Weaving through all the dancing bodies in the jerk's living room, he found Yuna talking to a girl dressed up as a vampire. At first he thought it was Lyra, but when he saw her fake fangs in the glowing green and purple lights, he knew it wasn't her. He asked Yuna and the vampire if either had seen Lyra, but came back with nothing. He also tried to find Somer, but when he saw the guy making out with some strawberry blonde, he realized he was probably drunk and would be of no help.

Now he was getting frustrated! Where the hell could she possibly be? She had said something about planning on trashing part of the house as payback for his perverted behavior that day after school, but this house was bigger than hers and had a lot more people in it at the moment. And at a Halloween party with everybody dressed up and something, at least half being vampires or the like, it was like finding that needle in the haystack.

He started with the 2nd level, as he had already searched the 1st, finding nothing but some teenagers who would surely give their parents aneurisms if they could see what their children were doing with each other. He went to the 3rd floor and found Erin's room completely trashed, probably courtesy of Lyra and her tricks, but the girl was nowhere to be found. So where in the freaking hell was she?

Grumbling to himself, he decided to check the basement. It was the only place he hadn't looked and he knew that down there, there was an in-house movie theater and a little gym, from what all the pricks friends had raved about. He opened the door and pounded down the stairs, looking around for any signs of life down there.

He rounded some corners and came to the theaters, which was rather impressive. But no Lyra, or anybody else for that matter. He checked out the gym and there was nothing there but machines, and a curious small door on the other side. It would have had to have gone outside the house to be there because the basement was already as long as the houses foundation with the theater and exercise room. He opened the door to find stairs and a light switch. He turned it on and flew down the stairs eager to find his friend.

But he stopped dead in his tracks when he smelled a despairing scent. Blood. He started to race down the dirt tunnel, following the scent and hoping to God it wasn't Lyra. He saw a door up ahead and burst through, finding no Lyra but finding something else entirely.

This was where the bloody scent was coming from. There where bloodstains on the floor everywhere, making dark blotches on the light colored dirt. There where bloodstained tables, one with a menacing looking butcher knife stuck in it. He wanted to think that maybe it was just a place to clean caught hunting trophies, since the Somer's were all about image and a dead deer in the front wouldn't be very appealing. But the scent was human. He looked in the corners of the room and saw something shiny in the dirt.

Walking over and picking it up, he found that it was a necklace. He had seen it before, but only vaguely. It belonged to a girl at their school, Lauren Johnson. She was nice, but nothing special and wore it every day. She was one of the few people he could actually stand to talk to. And she had also gone missing a few months ago. Seeing as the necklace was bloodstained, it was clear that this was the only remaining thing left there of the missing girl.

* * *

She pushed through the crowds of people, ignoring the cries of protest. She found Yuna and yanked her over into the less crowed kitchen.

"Dude, are you okay? Jason was just looking for you a while ago, where the heck were you? You've been gone for an hour Lyra!" the Japanese exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, but I had something to take care of and we really need to go now." She said hurriedly. She couldn't tell her friend that she had been scrounging in the woods around the house to see if it might possibly lead to any secret tunnels like the one in her house or the one she found. Her missing art pad and drawings had been gone ever since the episode in the woods and she had accepted the loss of her notepad but now to find it in Somer's room…

She had known something was wrong with him, but never guessed it was something like this. She had thought perhaps he had just stumbled on it in the woods, but the search through the family's land had proved that highly unlikely. He hadn't been anything but a human when she got here, but lately that odd feeling around him had intensified. Because of all the alcohol and smoke around tonight she hadn't gotten a good whiff of him, but now she was certain if she did, he wouldn't be human anymore.

As she was racing towards the door, she barreled right into the man that had been looking for her. Just as he was about to yell at her for going MIA, she could see his expression change when he saw hers. She grabbed his arm too and yanked them all through the door and to the car, starting for home.

"Lyra, will you please tell us what the hell is going on? Why are you acting so skittish? And what the hell is that?" Jason asked impatiently. His friend had dragged them away from the party to the local children's park, where he and Yuna now sat on the swings watching the Russian girl pace. "Did Erin do something to you?" he asked reluctantly. Anger coursed through his veins and the very thought of that creep laying one finger on her.

His comment seemed to briefly penetrate her mind and she stopped pacing and looked at him.

"No." she said quickly. "I just…found something there and I'm trying to figure out what the hell is going on and why the hell it was there!"

"You mean that folder thing?" Yuna asked. "You said you lost one of your folders full of drawings that you wanted to give us…it that it?"

Lyra stopped and looked at her, incredulous. Yuna could be a ditz sometimes, but she was very observant and quick to connect dots.

"Yeah. But what I didn't tell you guys is that I was wondering around in the woods behind my house, at least a few miles from the manor when I lost it. I got freaked out by something and dropped it. I went back later and it wasn't there so I gave up trying to find it and when I was…decorating Somer's room I found it under his bed, tucked away behind everything. How the hell did he get it in the first goddamn place!" she thundered. Neither Jason nor Yuna had ever seen her this mad, or even seen her mad at all.

"Wait a minute." Jason stopped her, both the girls looking at him because of his tone. "If you found that after you destroyed his room and he notices, he'll know it was you! That's vandalism and you could get in big legal trouble for it! I know you want your drawings back, but you have to return them or you could get in some deep trouble with them!" he worried. Lyra clearly hadn't thought this through in her anger, and what started out as a prank could now escalate into something far more worse.

"WHAT? There's no way I'm returning these! The prick stole them and he can't prove it was me! Besides, they're my property so _he_ was the one _stealing_ them!" she said protectively.

"Jason's right Lyra, you don't know the Somer's as well as we do. It doesn't matter if he doesn't have proof; if he wants to blame you, he'll blame you and with their money you could get in big trouble."

"I'm not returning them. We have more money than them if that's what it comes down to and I want to find out why he has these. There's no chance he could have just 'accidentally' found them miles away from both our houses!"

They argued some more, and decided that they would confront the prick about it. But after a while, Jason zoned out. What the hell was in that basement? A murder's lair or something? There was blood everywhere and lots of it. He probably even had it on his shoes after walking around in there. There were no bodies, the only thing left of anyone being that necklace.

The Somer's were hiding something, and he was going to find out what it was, with or without anybody else's help.

* * *

Okay, so I started this chapter a few months ago and got back into the whole 'Goth-vampire-werewolf-story' thing, though I can't promise how the story will progress from here. My writing juices are flowing again, but I have other interests as well. Sorry :C and i did go over this chapter about 5 times, so there shouldn't be that many typos

I've tried to make all my chapters at least 3000 words long so I think that a good length. Again, I'm going to try to get ahead on this story since it's the one I've actually posted and am still working on, but I still have to rewrite the plot and outlines and all that good stuff so a wait is required.

If you have read up to this point, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR STAYING WITH ME AND UNDERSTANDING MY SITUATION! I LOVE YOU GUYS! :D Review!

-cally (^o^)


	18. Birthday Present

Summary: Mostly just thinking and planning in this chapter, a little plot and some foreshadowing, so watch out :D there is also some _development_ between Jason and Lyra *wink wink*

Thanks for staying with me, I saw that one of you guys did a power read a week ago so thank you for that!

DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN

* * *

Things had not been going well in Guiden. Yes, everybody was talking about how wonderful Erin's party was, until the body of Lauren Johnson was found, necklace missing. On top of that, it was murder by knife, like the one in Erin's basement, and the investigation was going to be pushed even further now.

Jason hadn't told anybody, including his parents and Yuna, definitely not Lyra, what he had found. She had seemed upset enough with her notepad issue. It was a head-scratcher, but not as important compared to the bloody basement in the Somer's house. She had called him several times asking what was wrong but he was going to find this out for himself.

So when school resumed the following Monday, he did his best not to kidnap the football player and beat the truth out of him. He still couldn't hide his glare though. Erin was about to go up to him and probably heckle him but when he saw that look…that _really intimidating_ look, he backed off.

So no, it was not a good day for him. Even when Lyra walked into the lunchroom with Yuna 10 minutes before the bell rang, his mood only heightened a little bit.

"Dang, are you still mad at Erin? What the hell did he even do?" Lyra asked around chewing her breakfast sandwich.

"Nothing. He just makes me mad." He said lamely. Like they would believe that.

"Pft, he makes _everybody_ mad. Quit sulking."

He tried to follow her advice, but he was just too disturbed by this whole thing. The previous year, he had just hated the guy because he was a jerk. But a few months before school started this year, he began acting even more pompous and hate-worthy. Jason couldn't control his temper around him. And when Lyra came into the picture and then both of their feelings for her as well…well, Mr. Harris had been right: they really were just 'hormone explosions'.

Things had started to get weird and his suspicion had been raised. Now with the blood-filled room and Lyra's missing drawings showing up under his bed, he was certain Erin was in on some supernatural thing.

Though he had to admit, seeing Erin's face the next day at school after he found his room trashed was quite funny.

In short, he was zoned out the entire day, even when he was riding his bike home with Yuna behind him and Lyra following on her bike. When they got to his house, they were greeted by Lilith and Ebony. He marched up to his room and they followed, conversing between themselves and ignoring his sour mood. Yuna tended to be good at that.

"So what do you think?" he heard Yuna ask Lyra as she entered his room. Then he remembered: Lyra had never been in his room before.

"Wow. It's awesome. You have so many CD's and books…have you been to all of these places?" she asked, fingering the postcards tacked to a wall next to his closet.

"Uh, yeah. Most of them. Lilith and Claude have gone too and sent me some pictures." He said blankly, trying to be social and not awkward with her in his room.

"Sweet. I haven't been very many places. I went to Russia, 'cause, you know, I was born there, and France, but that's it. I have moved around the states a lot, which is boring. You're so lucky!" she beamed. She looked at his thoughtful face and scrunched her eyebrows. He knew she knew something was up, but had given up asking about it. "Anyways, let's get to work!" she yelled and plopped down on his bed. They all got out their respective homework's and conversed lightly as they worked. It was a surprisingly calm atmosphere for him having been depressing and antisocial all day.

He ended up making them dinner and when Claude got home, they left, leaving him to his thoughts. But before he could get to those, his phone vibrated.

**I want to show u something, get over here! **It was a text from Lyra.

**I can't just go over there! Hey aren't you still biking?**

**Nope. I ride fast =P**

**What did you want to show me?**

**I fixed up the room and I want you to see it. I hope you like it :D**

Jason paused, thinking it over. Now that they were gone he could investigate more, but he also probably needed something to take his mind off of everything that had been happening. Plus, the secret room might help him solve this whole weird case going on in his town. It _was_ strange like the other things that had been happening.

**I'll be right over.**

* * *

Lyra answered the doorbell hardly 2 seconds after he knocked. He was greeted by a flirty Serena and a tired looking Evain, who just waved at him. He nodded respectfully and followed Lyra to her room, watching as she got the key and unlocked the door.

"It was a lot of work. I had to keep doing back and forth to get everything down there and had to tell Serena the cat food was for fiber. But I still think it looks awesome, and now it can be an official hideout spot," she turned and grinned at him. He smiled in return, now actually excited to see how she had fixed the place up. It had looked like it needed a lot of work.

They finally reached the ground and he could see what she meant. First, she had had to install electric outlets in the walls so she could get a vacuum and lamps down here. Then she had to vacuum and dust everywhere and restore the desk, chairs and sofas. There was a beautiful Persian rug under the sofas and table, so they wouldn't have to step on dirt some of the time. It was the rug he had seen when he had looked at their storage room when he and Yuna snuck in.

The bookshelves where filled with tons of volumes on every possible subject they could use for school and several decorative ornaments were hanging about everywhere. It was almost his version of what he would imagine a child would want their tree house to look like. Minus the dirt floor.

"This is amazing! You did all of this yourself?" he asked, stupefied. He put his arm around Lyra's thin shoulders and looked down at her for an answer.

"Yep!" she chirped. "It was hard, but I'm glad it turned out okay. I've been coming down here a lot to do homework, it's actually quite relaxing if you don't mind the creepiness of it being an underground secret room." Jason laughed at that and she joined. Suddenly, he impulsively kissed her cheek, his arm still around her. She looked up at him with her surprised violet eyes.

"Thank you," he whispered sincerely. "This is amazing and I'm grateful that you took the time to prepare this, even if it wasn't just for me. It's probably the best birthday ever so far." She beamed at his comment before the last part sank in, then her face turned outraged, like she had been dooped.

"Wait…what? It's your birthday and you didn't tell me? Now I feel like crap for not getting you a present!" she whined loudly. He hoped they wouldn't be able to hear her up in the house.

"I don't like telling people because of that exactly. I don't like it when people give me stuff; I just like to spend time with them instead."

"But…can I at least get you a cake? Don't you celebrate it with your parents or Yuna?"

"No. They know I don't like it. And no, you can't get me a cake. Knowing them, they probably ignored what I said and got one anyways." He frowned at that thought.

"Then what can I get you!"

"Nothing." he grinned cheekily. She frowned but then got an evil smile that he didn't like.

"Can I at least give you one little thing?" she asked, her attitude changing from whiny to…suggestive?

"…Depends what it is…"

Taking that as a yes, Lyra stretched up on her toes and lightly pressed her lips against his. Neither of them had ever had any really real experience with that sort of thing, but it was still amazing none the less. Her lips were incredibly soft and smooth and his arm slide down to gently rest on the small of her back. He kissed her back and they both smiled into the kiss and then at each other when it broke.

"I'm still getting you a cake."

* * *

Jason rode his bike back halfway to his house, but stopped and got off. Walking his bike, he was practically basking in the glow of kissing Lyra. It would have been wonderful even if it hadn't been his birthday. Plus the fact that they had found that room together and now it was a spot they could share together made the whole thing a type of exhilarating.

He had never paid much attention to humans, but he couldn't help but notice some of the things they did. In high school, drama was everywhere, especially in relationships. Two people would get together, break up after a month, and then be with someone else. He had always thought that was ridiculous because there was hardly a point.

But now that the possibility of him having a relationship seemed awfully strange and foreign to him, even though he was excited about it.

He parked his bike in the garage and had zoned out in wonderland when he absentmindedly walked through his kitchen and started for his room when all of a sudden lights turned on and his family yelled a loud "SURPRISE!". He practically jumped out of his skin and whirled around. The excited look on Lilith's face disappeared and she started laughing when she realized they had actually scared him.

"Dude, where have you been? We've been waiting here for an hour!" Yuna exclaimed before giving him a light hug. She was back to dressing like her usual self, except she hadn't dyed her hair black again and she was wearing a knee-length skirt. He looked her over and she twirled around for him.

"Who _are_ you?" he asked jokingly. In his opinion she looked quite better this way.

"I like my hair this way and Lyra talked me into getting some…more stylish stuff in Fresno. Do you like it?" she twirled again.

"It looks great. I like your hair better this way."

After they talked for a while and noticed his parents were patiently waiting for them in the kitchen, he found them around a birthday cake and he reluctantly blew out the candles. He was supposed to be turning 17, but he had honestly forgotten how long it had been since he had been human.

All he knew was that it had been a _very_ long time ago.

* * *

It was the day after they had kissed and Jason still had that dopey smile on his face. It earned some strange looks from his parents and lots of questions from the 'new' Yuna, which he just ignored. He wasn't about to tell if Lyra hadn't told. She seemed one to gush about everything the moment possible. Did that mean it didn't mean anything if she hadn't told Yuna? Had he made too big of a deal out of it? That put a damper on his mood and his face became speculative as he chained his bike up and went to his locker.

He shoulders were a little slumped as he walked into the cafeteria, all that thinking making him depressed now instead of beaming. Lyra wasn't there yet, only Steve and Yuna sitting at the table. Hoping that maybe he was just early, he sat down and started reading so Yuna wouldn't ask him any more questions. But when he looked at the clock and they had only 5 minutes until class, his mood dropped down to just plain miserable.

He roughly got out of his seat and marched off to class, sulking his way through first and second hour. He marched into 3rd hour and glared at the door, hoping she would appear so he could possibly grill her about why she was late and about them kissing. But, like a moron, he zoned out concentrating too hard and missed when she walked in.

When the bell rang he snapped back to attention and saw her talking to the teacher. She had a sort of frustrated and angry look on her face. He really hoped it wasn't aimed at him.

She swiveled away and sat down with an angry huff. He was about to ask her what was wrong when she turned to him and glared.

"Uh…did I do something?" he couldn't help but ask.

"I hate my family." She said, unexpectedly. Though he had to admit he was happy it wasn't about him, at least she hadn't gotten to that if it was.

"And why is that?"

"You know that Literature field trip we're going on? The one that Mr. Moore has put off 2 times now?"

"Yeah? What about it?"

"Well I told Serena and she 'volunteered' to go as a 'chaperone' and talked to Mr. Moore about it and now we're going next Monday and she's coming! I mean, what the hell, we're all at least 16 here, we don't need a chaperone!" she fumed. He didn't particularly see the problem with that, but it was her family and from the way he had seen her sister act around boys, it probably wasn't the best idea, admittedly.

"That's…stupid."

"Yeah!" she roughly pulled out her books from her bag and started shuffling everything around, blasting 30 Seconds to Mars from her IPod at a probably painful volume. He looked at Yuna and she gave him a curious tilt of her head. He just shrugged his shoulders in response.

Mr. Moore clapped and got the classes attention. Everybody grudgingly looked at the balding man and he cleared his throat. Jason tapped Lyra's arm and she paused her IPod, though she already knew what he was going to say.

"As I told you a while after school started, we are going to go on a trip to the Literature museum in Fresno. I've decided on an adamant date, next Monday, the 8th. Since everybody has turned in their slips now we are going and will be talking and working on this paper until then." Everybody groaned aloud at his last sentence. He turned to the white board and started scribbling useless crap about the paper that they would need to know. Jason knew it all already.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Yuna whispered to Lyra.

"My sister is chaperoning that stupid field trip, which is probably the worst idea she's had this entire year."

"Why is that?"

"Because she wants to get into the pants of all the teenage boys she possibly can. Including Jason and that prick Somer."

"Really? How old is she?"

"Twenty-two. I wouldn't be so mad if it was Evain because she has a boyfriend." She grimaced at the word boyfriend, and again Jason hoped it didn't have to do with their kiss. "I hope she gets sick."

Jason snorted at that and Mr. Moore gave them a glare but didn't say anything. Hoping her sibling would get sick so she didn't come on the trip was funny and sad at the same time. He thought it was a little extreme, but when he thought about it a little more, and her sister's advances toward him, he almost agreed with her.

At the end of 3rd hour, he walked sullenly to his next class and dragged through last hour. He missed Lyra at her locker and waited for his two friends at the bike rack. She strode out and then he noticed her bike wasn't there. He handed the bike to Yuna and jogged after her; she was heading towards a sparkling purple car, the one she had used to drive Yuna to his house.

"Hey!" she turned around at his voice.

"Hey Jay what's up?" he ignored the annoying nickname and continued on.

"Are you sure this whole thing with your sister is all that's bothering you? I know it's a bit of a…troubling situation, but I don't see how you could be so mad about it."

"I'm just…lots of stuff has been going on lately, like the thing with Erin and then all these people are going missing and now my sister is invading into my life, _again_. I hate it when things like that happen."

"Was there…something _I_ did?"

At that, Lyra gave him a shocked look, like she didn't expect that. It gave him a sense of relief to know that he hadn't troubled her in any way.

"Of course not! Why would you…you mean us kissing? That was nothing!" his face fell. "I mean-not like that, of course it wasn't nothing; it's just not one of things I'm upset about." She stretched up and pecked his cheek, as if to prove her point. He smiled at her at that.

"If I can help…" he started.

"You know, maybe we should do something this weekend, or this Friday. I kinda need something to distract me and I'd like to spend some more time with you." Her eyes widened as she said this and she tilted her head, almost as a puppy would.

"Sure. I'll try to think of something. I'm not sure how many entertaining things there are to do in this little town." He joked.

"Well, I'm sure we could ditch and go to Fresno if we're too bored."

"It's a date." He grinned widely and she couldn't help but snicker at his eagerness.

"I'll see you later." He turned around and headed back to Yuna when he heard the fast clicking of high heels running on pavement. Lyra grabbed his jacket.

"Sorry, actually I can't this Friday. How about Saturday?" she asked.

"Sure. What's on Friday?"

"It's the last night of the full moon cycle." She blurted and then looked like she didn't mean to. "Um…"

"So?" he asked suspiciously. "What, are you obsessed or something?" he joked, trying to lighten the mood after his judgmental question.

"You caught me, I'm a moon-worshipping Wicca-person." She grinned. "No, my sister just doesn't let me out 'cause she thinks some freak will nab me, since more crimes tend to happen around cultish days like that. She's protective I guess."

"Okay. Saturday then." She nodded and went back to her car.

He gave looked at it with a confused smile and turned back when Yuna started yelling at him.

* * *

'Kay, lots of different things happening in this chapter. There was some foreshadowing and hinting, if you squint, especially in the beginning. Like I said in the last chapter, there was some intense stuff, so tell me if it seems I'm moving too fast. Or too slow, I don't know lol

REVIEW! Not gonna update until I get two reviews, that will give me some time to write some more stuff. We're getting into the good junk now, so it'll be harder to write and I need some inspiration. Please, be my inspiration! :D my Muse seems to have deserted me…

-cally (^o^)


	19. Kiss and Call

DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN UNDERWORLD, BUT I DO OWN THIS STORY SINCE IT'S PRETTY MUCH ALL MINE

* * *

The birds were chirping and the sun was shining. A light breeze ruffled the tendrils of the willow tree and made the lily pads make ripples in the small pond.

The draft made the red and black lace curtains move from the open doors, tickling Lyra's nose. She opened her eyes to the brightness and rolled over. She had stayed up late and it was a Monday, yet she didn't feel the least bit tired.

Sitting up, she looked at her clock and turned the alarm off so if wouldn't start buzzing when she was already awake. Today was the day of that stupid field trip to the Literature Museum in Fresno. Seriously, who makes a _Literature Museum_? Oh well, at least it got her out of 4th hour.

Walking down to the kitchen she got some coffee and looked around. It was awfully quiet. Evain had moved in again after she had had that little spaz attack after coming back from the woods and Jalis was always up by five.

She went up to the second floor and peeked into his room, seeing him tucked away under his covers, snug as a 'bug in a rug'. There were paper files and envelopes all over his desk and the unoccupied side of his bed. His alarm started peeping again and he still didn't wake up so she turned it off and made a call to Alex, telling him Jalis wouldn't make it in.

Returning to her room, she saw her phone buzz and picked it up, seeing she got a text from both Serena and Yuna.

Serena told her she was going to be at the house at 7:15 to pick her up and Yuna was complaining that her dog jumped on her and woke her up and four. Lyra typed an apologetic reply to that one and told Serena the trip wasn't until 3rd hour so she could just ride her bike.

Taking her time, she stalled in the shower and slowly brushed her hair and blow-drying it slowly on low, so as not to wake up her sleeping brother. It looked to be nice out today so she decided to take a chance with her wardrobe, to see was Jason would do.

She smiled at the thought of him. They had hung out doing homework and watching movies on Saturday and then on Sunday she just spontaneously went to his house. Neither he nor his parents seemed to mind and they ended up going with Yuna to that skating rink in Fresno she had talked about. Both her and Yuna had tried to suppress their laughter when Jason could hardly stand up on the skates, but he soon got the hang of it and they pulled him around the rink, saving each other from falling or falling together into one big heap.

There had been a few moments when Jason and Lyra had looked at each other and Yuna seemed to be able to tell that something had happened between them and she made a bigger deal out of it then they did. She had told Lyra later that Jason had changed so much since he had met she had come to town that it was starting to freak her out. Apparently before Lyra got there, he was always sulking and being down on himself, always throwing in negative comments instead of trying to help. She had called him 'socially retarded' and a 'professional pessimist'.

Lyra could imagine him being like, as he had been when she first met him, but then she felt proud that she could elicit such a big change in him. Before, whenever she woke up in the morning, she dreaded the full moon that was always looming on her mind. She would count down the days until the cycle; but now she would count down the hours until she could talk to Jason or see her friends.

Her family and Alex had noticed this and heckled her about it, but she just blew them off, saying that she had just made some really good friends.

But then she would always think about how eventually she would have to leave them. When they started to notice that she didn't age, and that her family didn't either, they would ask and she would never be able to give them an answer they wanted. Maybe Yuna and Jason would accept it after a while because they both seemed to be open-minded to things like that, but Steve and Kida especially would freak out and probably call the police. That never ended well.

Lyra's phone buzzed and took her out of her trance and alerting her to the time. She had about 15 minutes before she had to get going so she wouldn't be late for school. Yuna had texted her again, complaining how Jason had been early this morning and they were already at the school. Make that 5 minutes to get ready.

She ended up wearing a short black skirt with two mess cut outs in the shape of half crescents of either side with silver studs in between. It was a little racy and so was the overall-like vest she wore that went under her breasts and over a plain white t-shirt. Bangles and bracelets covered her wrist and she wore a leather choker necklace. Dark eyeliner and a darker-than-normal lipstick adorned her face. Now she really looked Goth. She pulled on some wedge lace up boots that were like her volatile boots, but with a solid heel.

She grabbed her bag, finished her coffee and raced downstairs. She flew out the doors, almost forgetting to lock them and hoped on her bike, pedaling towards the school with a fury.

* * *

When she got there, she still had about twenty minutes until class started and barreled down the hallways towards her locker. Next stop: cafeteria.

Spotting her group at the normal table in the corner, she stepped down the steps and smiled when she saw Jason's eyes roam over her outfit.

"Hello mes amies." She greeted, setting her stuff down.

"Hey. You forgot this at my house last night." Jason said and handed her her black hoodie with a fairy on the right side of the zipper.

"Oh. Thanks. I probably should have gotten a sweater before I left, that wind was kinda cold on the way here."

"Yeah, they said it might rain today and it looks like it's going to. Too bad Mr. Moore doesn't cancel the trip." Jason murmured sarcastically. He looked like he hadn't slept that well.

"I'd rather get it over with, since it was supposed to be a month ago. Can you believe that we've only known each other for a little more than 2 months? It's seems so much longer than that!" she gushed, bouncing up and down. She never thought knowing someone for such a short period of time could bring them so close. When she had met her siblings, it had taken her years to warm up to them. Except Jalis.

They conversed about trivial little things until the 5 minute bell. Time seemed to go slower than normal because she was actually looking forward to the trip. It meant she could be away from the horrible building and she could be with her friends.

Finally 3rd hour came and right away Mr. Moore ushered them out to the buses and they were on their way. It only took about 20 minutes to get there and the whole time the teacher was babbling on and on about what they would do and when they would have lunch and blah blah blah. Jason and Lyra busied themselves with thumb wars while Yuna listened to her IPod.

They disembarked and entered the surprisingly large building. Lyra had expected it to look like pretty much like a library or like a regular museum, with glass cases and displayed everywhere. Instead there were tons of rooms with screens that played movies about famous writers. The only actual paper there was a room filled with copies of all the important documents in history; like the Declaration of Independence and the World War 2 surrender form the Japanese signed.

"I can't believe the government wasted money on building this place! I'm pretty sure the school has all of these stupid movies anyway." Jason whispered to her while watching a film about Frederick Douglas. He was shushed by Mr. Moore.

"Ditto here." She whispered back.

The only interesting part of the trip was when they had lunch. There were tables outside and luckily it hadn't rained yet so the benches where fine. It was probably the most relieved Lyra had ever been to eat.

"That was torture. I can't believe they made us pay to do this. I'm surprised it hasn't run out of business!" she whined while sipping her can of soda. Jason just nodded while Yuna burst into a string of complaints about every single little thing in there that mad her mad. Bitching seemed to be her specialty today.

But she was interrupted when her phone started ringing. She looked at the caller ID, ignoring the looks she was getting from the other students and the glare from Moore.

"BRB." She said and got up to answer the phone inside.

"Wonder what that's about." Lyra wondered aloud.

"She's probably calling the morgue to see if they kept her boyfriend there," a menacing voice said behind her. She turned around and glared at Erin, who was sitting at the table behind them, facing toward her. "Or maybe the morgue guy is her boyfriend. That would explain a lot." He thought, rubbing his chin with a speculative look like in the old movies.

"Watch your mouth prick, or you might lose that tongue of yours," she threatened.

"You offering?" he asked flirtatiously. His friends burst into howls of laughter. She was about to reply with some snarky comment, but then she thought of something even better.

"Yes Erin, after all this time I've finally decided life isn't worth living without you. Do me." She hissed, smirking when his face blanched and now the laughter was directed at him. She turned to look triumphantly and Jason but he was busy eating his lunch, the normal scowl that should have been there nowhere in sight. "You okay?" she asked.

"No. That asshole pisses me off and right now I would like nothing better than to smash his head into that tree," he pointed toward the tree that was the centerpiece to all the tables.

"Geez, you don't have to get so mad about it. He's just being an idiot." She said, actually worried he might go through with his plan. Normally she wouldn't have been so vexed by that comment, but his face was eerily calm, as if doing that would be no problem and would fix everything. "We'll get him back don't worry." She reassured him. He looked up at her and smirking, amused and her off-handed tone, like that really would.

He was about to say something funny about that, when Yuna came back, her dark face paler than usual. Her mouth was set in a grim line and her eyes were wide, her hand clenching her phone tightly, like she wanted to break it.

"What's wrong? You look like you saw a ghost or Mr. Moore naked or something," she asked.

"Thank you for that lovely picture," Jason retorted, shuddering. He didn't seem to realize how upset Yuna looked.

"Nothing. I'm fine." She replied curtly, giving her friend an almost resentful look. Lyra was taken aback. Yuna was _never_ like this, never one to be mean and now she for no apparent reason.

"Who was that on the phone? Is everything okay?" she asked again. Maybe something had happened to her parents, or her dad had returned to his old ways.

"I said I'm fine Lyra!" she burst, causing Jason and Erin's table to stare at the two girls, surprised. Lyra had a look of hurt on her face.

"…Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you…I was just worried that's all." She whispered, looking down at her hands. Jason glanced between the two and touched Yuna's arm.

"Who the hell was that Yuna? What did they tell you?" he asked, his tone demanding an answer. Everyone was still looking at them.

"I'll tell you later." She mumbled and grabbed her half-eaten lunch and threw it away, leaving a mad Jason and a hurt Lyra at their table.

* * *

The rest of the trip was awkward, as Lyra kept trying to apologize but Yuna was having none of it. She kept avoiding and just plain ignoring her whenever Lyra tried to talk to her. She asked Jason to try to ask her what was wrong but he got the same treatment. Though several times Yuna would ask if she could talk to him _now_ but then she would see Lyra and stop.

Lyra wondered what was so important, what could possibly put her friend in this sort of mood? She didn't think she had done anything wrong, and Yuna had seemed fine this morning until she got that call.

They loaded back onto the bus and this time none of them talked to each other, droning out the babbling of the rest of the students around them. Lyra stared out the window and would occasionally glance and Yuna who was doing the same, or glaring at her. When they got off the buses and back to school, she was very tempted to ditch 5th hour, but Mr. Moore threatened them with detention to anyone who had the same thoughts.

Fifth hour went by even more painfully slow than 1st and 2nd did. The whole time she was worried about Yuna, and what she could have possibly done to upset her. She had asked Jason multiple times to talk but he had said no, they would wait until after school when he got home from hanging at Lyra's house.

To be honest, she wished he would just listen to their friends so she would know what the hell was going one, but she also wanted to stay with him as a source of comfort.

He lent Yuna his bike and pedaled on Lyra's bike to her house. They did homework in a semi-awkward silence until it was broken by Evain asking if they wanted dinner. They ate in silence until Lyra couldn't stand it anymore.

"Do you have any idea what she could possibly be mad at me about? I mean, one minute she's all happy and complaining about that stupid field trip and then all of a sudden she's sending me death glares on the bus!"

"I don't know. I didn't think it was possible for Yuna to act like that towards someone. She's always been really nice and kind of a pushover, if you know her. She's said you're her best friend at least 50 times since you two met."

"Yeah…" she trailed off, lost in saddened thoughts. Jason crawled off the beanbag chair he was on so he was on his knees next to his friend.

"Hey…it'll blow over. Things like these always do, especially with Yuna." He said and rubbed her shoulders soothingly. She tilted her head to kiss him and he pressed their lips together for a few seconds, his thumb rubbing circles on her shoulder blade.

"Thanks," she whispered.

He just smiled in response.

They parted with another kiss and Jason walked back home, after much insisting that he would be fine. She let him go and closed the door with a groan. It had only been a few hours since Yuna had gotten that phone call and already she was exhausted from worrying and stressing about it.

* * *

"You okay?" Jalis asked and she sauntered past the kitchen to the stairs.

"No. Yuna's mad at me and she won't tell me or Jay why. Or at least she won't tell him while I'm around. It's really starting to worry me; I don't even know what I did to make her this mad!"

"How mad?"

"Like fuming mad! She was glaring daggers at me any opportunity she could and she blew me off whenever I tried to talk to her. Now I'm worried what she's going to tell Jay, 'cause she's probably waiting for him back at his house!"

"Now I'm curious too," he said, while trying to inconspicuously push a manila folder out of her site. It was obviously something from Alex.

"What's that?"

"Nothin'," he dodged, almost pushing it off the table.

"Jalis, what is that?" she demanded. Now was not really the time for him to avoid her too.

"Alex just sent over a little mission he wants us to look at. We can do it later though." He said, smiling and motioning for her to go to bed.

"Us? As in he needs more than one person for it? That's not little," she criticized. "What's it about?"

"Apparently there's some vampires up to something close by in Los Angeles," he started reluctantly. He didn't want to put her in an even worse mood and this was bound to do just that. "They were going around killing people but now all of a sudden they're just stealing from blood banks. Alex's people traced large cash sums going back to them and he's suspicious about what their up too. They went off the map for a while and just showed up the back streets of Fresno."

"How big a group are we talking?"

"I don't know, a few dozen at least. There are 3 main leaders," he explained, opening the file and showing him picture of two men and a women. "She's the one we need to worry about. She's pretty old, older than Alex, and she seems to be in charge of the whole thing."

Lyra grabbed the picture angrily. This was really not what she needed right now.

It was a picture of some blonde chick, wearing clothes that weren't really suitable for public. She looked like a blonde Serena; like she was a Victoria's Secret model or a hooker or something.

"She doesn't look like much," she said flatly.

"Yeah, well tell that to the vamps she tortured for weeks. Took them months to get better. She really knows how to make someone hurt."

"Lovely."

"Anyway, we don't have to worry about it now. Let's just save it for another day, he didn't say it was urgent." Jalis smiled reassuringly at her. It didn't help her mood though.

Suddenly her phone vibrated. She took it out of her pocket to see that Jason was calling her.

"I am so glad you called, what did Yuna—"she started but was interrupted by a very pissed off sounding Jason.

"We need to talk. _Now_."

* * *

Poor Lyra, she's having such an awful day. And now Jason's mad at her too? Lol gosh I'm so mean to my characters.

The next few chapters are when it starts to follow the plot of Underworld a bit more, just so you know. And next chapter is really super angsty so be prepared! The name of the next chapter is Confessions so it's pretty obvious what's gonna happen! :D

Review!

-cally (^o^)


	20. Confessions

Alright, I lied. This chapter switches between Lyra and Jason's POV's but its Lyra's most of the time, only Jason's at the beginning. Time for angst. Lots of it!

**Summary**: Yuna and Jason confront Lyra about her secret and things don't go well. Pasts are shared and so is some advice at the end.

DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN, THOUGH I DID GET SOME HELP FROM UNDERWORLD FOR THIS CHAPTER

* * *

It had started with a simple phone call. Yuna had gotten one from somebody on their 'field trip' and after that she was stiff and brazen toward Lyra, tugging on his arm to talk to him but stopping when she saw Lyra near.

He had tried to ask about it after school, but she had to go to church with her parents, so he would have to wait. Then he went to Lyra's house; they did homework, had dinner and kissed a few times. Honestly, he had forgotten all about Yuna and her problem by the time he left.

Until he got home to find Yuna sitting on his bed waiting for him with a leather-bound journal in her hand. The one they had taken from Lyra's house. It had just been a joke back then, them messing around so they could find out about the mysterious girl and have something to do.

He never imagined it could have turned out to be something like this.

* * *

Lyra was pacing in her living room. Jason had just called her and he sounded _mad_. What could Yuna possibly have told him? She couldn't think of anything that could make them _this_ mad. Maybe one of them had been blamed for her vandalism at Erin's house, or that they had stolen her drawings, not her herself. That was all she could think of.

She listened for the sounds of crunching gravel, because they said they were coming over to talk. Jalis had tried to console her, but gave up and went to his room. She heard the tapping of him texting Serena and Evain about her mood and impending predicament.

Finally she heard the rolling of stones under shoes and ran over, shoving the door back, looking right into the angry faces of her two friends. She just stood aside so they could enter.

"What the hell is going on? You two are really started to worry me!" she exclaimed when they turned to look at her from across her living room.

"Worried? Hell, with what we have to say to you, you should be scared!" Yuna said in a sarcastic, nasty sort of way. Lyra looked to Jason for some help, but his face was blank and emotionless.

"What? What is that supposed to mean?"

"Why did you go and buy things to make a cage with?" Yuna asked. Lyra blinked and stood there gaping at them, trying to find words. "Do you hunt? Are you a murderer? Or do you have to lock yourself up sometimes?" she snarled. Lyra's eyes were practically bugging out of her skull.

"What…how…how do you know about that?"

"That doesn't matter right now, now answer the—"

"Of course it matters! And you say I'm the one who has to explain? How do you even…"

"Fine. You want something to explain? Explain this." Jason said and tossed some old journal onto the table in front of him.

Her journal.

"…You broke into my house?" Lyra screeched. She could hear Jalis stop what he was doing and start listening now. "You come in here demanding answers of me when you broke into my house and stole something! You're lucky I'm not calling the police on you!"

"Trust me, if you called the police we would all be put into loony bins. I read that diary Lyra. I had it translated, and my friend who translated it called me at the museum, telling me what was written in it. He said it was the ramblings of a mad man, until I looked at it and saw your handwriting!" Yuna told her with a glare.

"So? Get to your point?"

"It's from 1827!"

"It's my ancestors."

"So your 'ancestor' had siblings named Jalis, Serena and Evain? And a friend named Alex?" she wondered in a scathing tone. Lyra stiffened.

"Yes." She lied.

"But I thought your siblings were adopted. They already had their names when they got into the family, so they couldn't have been named after these people. And don't tell me it's a coincidence because it's obviously not."

"What are you trying to say Yuna? That I'm a liar? That I'm some mutant freak that's lived for centuries?" she laughed. "That's just ridiculous."

"Well, it talks about being a…what it called? 'Lycan'? So yes. See, I know about the little 'immortal club' Lyra. And now it's pretty obvious you _have_ been lying." Jason nodded in agreement.

"Get out. You have no idea what you're talking about, get out!" she tried in a last desperate attempt to save her secret.

"It all makes sense now. Why you're the best at everything, how you know so many things, why you're so secretive. Now that I think about it, every time you skipped school it was the morning after a full moon. Don't try to deny it. That will just make it worse."

Lyra was silent for a few minutes. How could she possibly believe what she had written in that journal? And how had Lyra not noticed their scent in her room, where she had left the diary? Yuna was Goth, yes and went to church, but most people would just condemn her to the funny farm if they read what she had written in any of her journals.

"How do you know?" she asked silently. Yuna looked up at her and then at Jason, like she hadn't been expecting the question. "How do you know?" she yelled when the brunette didn't answer.

"Because of me." Jason said, defending his friend.

"What do you mean? How do you know?" he smiled and looked at her with morbidly amused eyes.

"Because I am one."

For the first time, Lyra felt like she was going to faint. Jason wasn't one to lie and neither was Yuna. But they couldn't be telling the truth. Because if they were, then that would explain everything. Why she had felt the urge to kill a human for the first time in centuries, why she had felt more violent than usual, why she felt such an attraction to Jason. He was the Lycan causing all those things.

But he couldn't be. Not only because she didn't want him to be, but because he smelled and acted just like a human. Sure, he was strong and smart, but not overly so. Not enough to be a monster. And it also meant that if they knew, and they were this mad about it, she had put her entire family in danger. They must have suspected them as well if they were living with a Lycan and were mentioned in her diary. Alex was in trouble too; it might not get so far to that because Alex had money enough to keep them quiet. But then again, she hadn't expected them to _break into her house_ and _steal_ a private journal of hers. If Jason was there and he was a Lycan then he must have found the cage downstairs, since Yuna had mentioned.

"How could you have the nerve to come here and accuse me of being a monster and for lying to you when you did the exact same thing! If you're a Lycan than you would have sensed that I was too! Or has this all just been a big fun game for you Jason? Messing with me just so you could come here and rub it in my face! I have a family to protect, I couldn't just be a blabber mouth and tell the first friends I make!"

"Because I'm not a threat Lyra! And you are! See this bracelet?" he held up that strange chain around his wrist that he always wore. "It prevents me from phasing, even on a full moon. I've worn it for so long that it's started to repress more of my Lycan traits, like my scent and my ability to be faster and stronger than a human. It's still a step above human but barely. What if you got out of that cell and went on a rampage through town? Or what if you little family killed somebody, whatever the hell they are." He fumed.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "I understand you not telling us, but moving to a town like this, where a new person moving in makes the front page, was a bad idea. There are just too many possibilities and I have people that I want to protect but can't."

"It's my fault," said a voice. They turned around to see Jalis suddenly standing at the top of the stairs. "She moved her because my friend wanted me to and I begged her. We came here for work, not because we had to move. Lyra is the most restrained Lycan in the U.S, probably the whole world. She would never slip up and she taught us how to be restrained as well. The only trouble you have to worry about is the vampires in this town. Like your little friend, Natasha."

"What? Natasha? How do you know about her?" Jason asked, stunned.

"I've seen her with you before. And she's the leader, or one of them, leading a cult of vampires that's up to no good in this town. We just got assigned to kill them."

"Who's keeping secrets now?" Lyra snapped at him.

"How was I supposed to know, it's not like we're dating or something! I hardly ever see her. It's only recently that she's started to show up more often."

"Probably because she lives here somewhere now. It's her you have to worry about not us." He was at Lyra's side in an instant, his arm protectively around her shoulder. "I normally don't make threats, but since your powers are restrained I will say this. If you hurt my sister, or anybody in our family for that matter, you will regret it. All we want to do is get our work done, and if you get in the way, we can't help what happens."

Jason stared at him coolly for a minute before he grabbed Yuna's wrist and headed toward the door.

"You won't have to worry about us anymore." He hissed before slamming the door shut.

"Jason…" Lyra whimpered and her bottom lip started trembling. Jalis hugged her, but she pushed him away and ran up to her room. She ran out to the terrace attached to her room and yelled "Jason!" but she was ignored by his retreating figure.

This had never happened before. People had asked her why she was so weird before, or how she stayed so young, but never, _ever_ had someone ever found out before. Much less a human like Yuna. And the last time she had been discovered by a Lycan was in 1805 and that was because she discovered them first. She slid down the stone wall of the porch, tilting her head back to look at the sky. She was alone again.

"_Well it's not hard to see, anyone that looks at me knows I am just a rolling stone. Never land in any place to call my own. To call my own. And it, seems like so long ago. But it really ain't you know, I started out a crazy kid. Miracle I made it through the things I did._

_And someday I'll go, where there ain't no rain or snow. 'Til then, I travel alone. And I've made my bed, with the stars above my head and dream of a place called _home."

Lyra looked out her window. She had lost everything in a single night; when just hours before she was laughing and talking with her friends and kissing Jason goodnight. Now none of that was left, because of one tiny book, but the loneliness she always felt when she had to leave everything behind again.

She didn't notice the hot tears that ran down her face as she stared up at the empty moon.

* * *

Jason kept to his word: she didn't need to worry about them.

In truth, she did worry about them; she just tried not to show it. They were all she thought about and she had gotten in trouble for it too. She had gotten Alex hurt, which she didn't feel so bad about, but when Jalis talked to her about being 'distracted' she knew she had to get over it.

But she couldn't. Jason and Yuna were the first friends she had ever really had and now they had ditched her because she had wanted to protect her family. Jason had done the same thing too for Crip's sake, but you didn't see her yelling at him for it!

The days passed slowly, hours of school going by as if time and slowed down tenfold. But the afternoons and nights passed quickly with all of the investigating and sleeping she had been doing. Even though she was still upset and angry over her friend's actions, she wasn't about to neglect her job. At least, not on purpose. She was very tersely reminded about this when Alex complained about 'discretion'.

Hours at school seemed like she had lived her millenniums of her existence in only a few short weeks. Whenever she would walk into the cafeteria and sit with only Steve and Kida, or walk into English class and sit in her usual seat because she had no other choice, she would look at them. But they wouldn't look back. Jason always had this angry, sour look on his face. He was the one she expected to understand, to be the one to say 'I know how you feel' and console her about the loss of Yuna. But Yuna turned out to be more understanding than him. She would look at her with pain and loss after a week, like she had forgiven her, but couldn't voice it because of Jason. She also had this guilty looking expression all the time, like she regretted saying those things to her friend. It _was_ sort of a crazy situation, but Yuna apparently got accustomed to those fast.

One Friday night, when Lyra was up in her room sulking and failing miserably to do her homework, there was a knock on the door. Jalis answered it because he was in the kitchen and she could hear his little gasp of surprise at whoever was there.

"Can I help you?" he asked politely, but there was an edge of venom in his voice.

"I need to talk to her." Lyra jerked up at that voice. It was Yuna! What was she doing here; she was mad still wasn't she?

"Lyra," Jalis whispered and she ghosted to the top of the grand staircase, staring wide eyed at her lost friend.

"Yuna! What on earth are you doing here? I thought—"

"I know. I just…I wanted to talk to you…" she mumbled, looking down at her feet. Lyra was in front of her in a flash, making her jump a little at her sudden presence. But Lyra was too astounded at her mere presence to notice.

"Yeah! Yes of course, what is it?" she asked eagerly.

"Um…can we go somewhere private?" she asked, looking at Jalis. He gave Lyra a reassuring grasp on the shoulder before he walked back up to his room. "More…private. Like, away from the house? I don't want anyone overhearing us."

"Sure. Where?" she asked, but Yuna had already turned around and started walking away down the driveway. Lyra grabbed her fitted leather jacket and hurried after her.

They walked in silence, their hands in their pockets and their faces looking at the sidewalk they strolled down. Yuna stopped after a few minutes and Lyra looked up to see that they had arrived at the local park.

"Whoever thought it was a good idea to build a cemetery next to a park had problems," she commented, not quite trying to be funny, more like voicing her distaste.

"Well, I don't really think this town had any other space to put it in," Yuna replied. She didn't sound mad yet, so that was a good sign.

"I'm guessing this is private enough?" Lyra asked. Yuna nodded. "So what did you want to talk about." For once, she really hoped it would be about her secret, so she could explain to her friend, but right now, she would be there for Yuna no matter what it was.

"Look…I know you're mad at me for not telling you. And I wanted to tell you, I really did. You and Jason are the first real friends I've had in a long time. With you guys, I actually forgot what I was. But it wasn't just me I was protecting by keeping my secret. If you found out about me, you would find out about my family and then about Alex and his firm could go under because of that…it just wasn't my secret to tell alone." She explained, trying to keep the sorrow out of her voice.

"Lyra…I know. That's exactly what Jason told me when I found out about him. That's not what I wanted to talk about."

Lyra blanched in surprise.

"Oh. Okay. Well, uh, what did you want to tell me then?"

"You know, I didn't always live in the United States." Yuna said. Lyra looked at her quizzically; she hadn't expected this. "I lived with my real parents in Japan. They were business people, even my mom. I didn't see them very often but I still loved them. Then one day I got a call at my aunt's house. My parents had been killed in a gang fight over in America on a business trip."

"I was crushed. I didn't know what to do, even when the Dawnson's adopted me. I got used to them, but I was still alone. They didn't approve hardly anything about me, so I never understood why they took me in. We moved her when I was 14, just two years after my parents died. I learned English over in Japan, so people just thought I was some Asian girl adopted as a baby. Nobody really knew who I was. That my name was Yuna Hitsumi, not Yuna Dawnson."

"Why are you telling me this?" Lyra asked when Yuna didn't continue. But the girl looked up at her from the swing she had sat on and smiled.

"When I met Jason, my whole world changed. He was mysterious, and strange and handsome. Everything a girl could want. But I didn't like him that way. So we got to be friends. We were the only friend one another had. And that didn't change when I found out what he was.

"I was scared, yeah, but I got over it. It made me feel a little weird about myself though. 'Cause I attracted a werewolf as my only friend, so that kind of said something about me as well as him. But I was okay with it." Now she had a smile on her face as she reminisced.

"Don't get me wrong, he's an amazing guy, but just being with somebody who's like that, knowing somebody who's that powerful makes you wonder. I wondered what it would be like to be like him. But of course I never told him that.

"And then you can to town. I was _so happy_ that there was someone, a _human_ someone, that liked me as a friend for who I was. You were like me. I was a freak before, but with you I was just Yuna.

"But then…when I found out about you and your secret…it just overwhelmed me. I'm a 16 year old Goth Asian girl whose family is gone and whose adoptive family doesn't give a rat's ass about me. And my two only and best friends are werewolves. They aren't human. And I guess when I found out about you…I was jealous."

Lyra's head snapped up from where she sat on the swing next to her friend. Jealous? She had heard vampires say they envied her because of her strength and control, but never anybody telling her they were just because of what she was.

"You must think I'm crazy right? That I'm just some idiot who's going to get herself killed looking for monsters."

"No. I don't think you're crazy. But I do know you could get hurt if you go looking for people like me. It's not something to just wish for and then BAM it happens. When you change, you change forever, there's no going back. Even if you want to. I've met people before, humans, who wanted to change and they got their wish and hated it. They—"

"That's not what I mean. I mean, I _am_ jealous of your power and stuff, but I don't want to become a vampire or a werewolf or whatever. I'm just jealous because now you can know people and learn things that I won't ever be able to because I'm human. You'll have all the time in the world to get to know somebody, or fall in love. I'll never have that. I know I'm just complaining, and I probably wouldn't be if I didn't know about you and Jason, but…I just am. I can't help it." She looked at Lyra like she was waiting to be scolded for her words. But Lyra just smiled and grabbed her hand.

"Actually, it's not as great as you think. Yeah, I've had some good times with the fact that I have all the time I could want. But after a few centuries it gets pretty old. I've learned dozens of languages and been to dozens of countries. I've met so many people I can't remember all of them for the life of me. I've seen so many wars and conflicts and resolves with human kind. I've seen humans evolve into better creatures. But even if you're not alone, there's always that voice in the back of your head that tells you you're a monster, and that's all you can ever be until you die. _Unless_ you die. Does that make sense?"

"I guess so…"

"So is this what you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yeah. That's pretty much it. I just wanted you to know why I was so upset and mean to you earlier; it was just a moment thing that I got over in like a day. I'll try to talk some sense into Jason. We talked about it and he's just peeved that you kept it from him and that he didn't sense it. Mostly self-hate stuff in his case. You know guys." She smirked at that last line.

"Not as well as you think. Just 'cause I'm old, doesn't mean I know everything."

"He's just old fashioned. And I think the blow to him that the girl he liked and was dating was a werewolf was kind of hard. But he'll get over it. Hell, if I can, there's no reason he can't."

"I hope so. So does this mean I can talk to you at school and stuff, or do we have to pretend for Jason's sake?"

"Honestly, I don't give a damn what he thinks. If he can't get over it when I can, that's his problem."

"Good. It's been torture the past few days not talking to you. I was practicing what I would say to you in the shower and in front of the mirror I was so upset. I'm glad you came and talked to me. I didn't really think you would."

"Well, I'm glad that I for once proved you wrong." Yuna said with a smile. "So! Tell me more about life as a Lycan. You've mentioned that Alex guy a lot, is he a Lycan too?"

"No. Him and the rest of my family are vampires. He runs a law firm in Los Angeles. We moved her so we could do work for him."

"Work?"

"Yeah. That's another thing about being immortal: you can help smite the bad guys whenever."

"Tell me everything!" she demanded with anxious and excited eyes.

"Okay. Just remember you asked for it!"

* * *

See? At least it had a happy ending for two people. Now we just have to see about Jason. The little fart, what the hell is his problem?

Now I know we haven't heard from Jason in a while, but that will have to wait until the chapter after next. Since Lyra is the _main_ main character I have to put some stuff in her POV that can't be put into Jason's, but at least Jason had a little say in the beginning of this one!

Please review! This chapter especially! I want to know what you guys think about everything that happened this time around, since so much did happen.

-cally (^o^)


	21. Q&A

**Summary**: Yuna keeps asking questions about Lyra's immortal life and Lyra and Jason try to reconcile.

**Rating**: T this chapter for language.

**DISCLAIMER**: DON'T OWN

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Lyra was exhausted. Not from work. Not from school. Not from her family, or from stress.

But from Yuna.

The Japanese had been asking her so many questions, she forgot which ones she had answered and which ones she hadn't. Ever since they had made up after Yuna spilled her secret, they had become best friends. But Lyra did need her sleep. And Yuna was making that very difficult with all the things she wanted to know. And she had been asking questions for two days straight! She even slept over Saturday night because she had stayed so late.

She wanted to know when she was turned, where she was turned, when and where the others were, what the big differences between Lycans and vampires were, what her job was like, etc. It was a never ending stream of questions, and when she Lyra fell asleep, she was either shaken awake or Yuna would go and bug Jalis for answers.

When Lyra had told Jalis what they had talked about at the park (after staying there for three hours talking), he hadn't been very excited. In fact, he was the maddest Lyra had ever seen him. She told him nothing was at stake, that Yuna could keep a secret and he calmed down, trusting Lyra's promise, but was still wary of her eccentric friend. Especially when she started asking _him_ questions.

Serena and Evain were even worse. Serena said she would move back in and slaughter the whole town if even one tiny little rumor was spread about them. Evain wasn't as graphic or threatening, but she was pretty angry, despite her shy and accepting nature. And Alex…

That was the most unpleasant conversation she had ever had.

To put it lightly, he said he would kill Yuna and Jason himself just for the fact that they knew. With him, they didn't have to tell for a reason to kill them. Lyra calmed him down, with Evain's reluctant help, so they were considered safe, but after a few cautious words from Lyra, Yuna chilled down.

But that didn't stop the questions from flowing.

"So you really kill people for a living? That's where you got the money for this house?"

"I don't kill _people_, I kill vampires and any demonic thing that gets out of hand. And no, Alex bought us this house so we could live here and work."

"Why do you kill vampires and stuff?" Yuna asked around her soda as they sat resting their heads against tombstones in the cemetery. Not the happiest place for this conversation in particular.

"So they don't kill humans, me, or any of my friends."

"Well, yeah, but why else?" Lyra looked at her quizzically. "I mean, I know you want to protect them, but you said yourself eternity is a long time to spend doing the same things."

"…It's what I'm good at," she mumbled. Killing wasn't exactly her favorite subject, but Yuna seemed enamored with it.

"…That's messed up."

"Thanks."

"Sorry. So how many have you killed?"

"I don't know! I don't count! Too many to list I guess. Immortals usually travel in small groups or packs, if they can get along, so it usually wasn't one at a time."

"Does Alex make you?"

"Yuna! Please! Just lay off on the killing questions okay?" she barked. Yuna looked a little hurt and averted her eyes. "I'm sorry, just please don't ask any more questions about it? It's not my favorite subject."

"Why do you do it if you hate it so much? I don't see why you would torture yourself with that if you don't like it…"

"You've never taken a life. I have. I've taken so many it would take years to count. I don't even remember their faces!" she snorted. "I just do what I'm told or what my instinct tells me when I'm attacked. I have to do it to protect people. Besides, if I don't then somebody else has to and I don't want to wish the burden of killing on somebody else."

"That makes sense I guess. God, you're so brave. I know I care about some people a lot, but I don't know if I could do that…"

"You'll never have to make the choice." She told her friend with sadness in her voice.

"Do you regret it?"

"What? Killing?"

"No, being turned."

Stopping to think carefully before she answered, Lyra chose her words warily.

"Sometimes. I hate the fact that I can never grow up and never have a family. My family is dead. I tried following the bloodline, because my brothers and sisters all had kids, I was the youngest, but I gave up after a few centuries. The bloodline had gotten so thin, it was hardly my bloodline anymore. That's what sucks about immortality: you have to watch the people you love fade away, unless you make the most selfish choice of all and turn them."

"But?" Yuna asked, urging her on.

"But…if you've lived as long as I have, the pain of all that goes away after a while. Now I can hardly remember anything from being human. For a long time my only family has been Serena, Evain and Jalis. The one thing I like about eternity: you get to see so many things. If I had died of old age or something as a human, I would have missed electricity and the internet. Phones, computers, air conditioning, cars. And little things, like liquid soap and frozen pizza. I wouldn't have been able to see a lot of interesting things and not have been able to meet a lot of cool people. Like you and Jason. And my family."

"So there's a good side to being immortal?"

"Definitely."

"Do the pros outweigh the cons do you think?"

"I guess it depends who you're talking too. Jalis and I hate it sometimes, but still have fun with it. Serena and Alex love it and Evain's just happy she could be with her sister. Most vampires and Lycans enjoy it, because they forgot their human lives and being a powerful thing has gone to their heads. A lot of them think that just because they are at the top of the food chain, that they can do whatever they want."

"And those are the guys you kill right?"

"We try to talk some sense into them first, explain the rules, but most of the time they ignore us and we have to."

"We?"

"Alex has that law firm, but it's also a cover for the 'demon secret society'. Me and Jalis are members. It's a place where people like us try to protect humans from knowing the secret of immortals. A few hundred years ago people were always living in fear that they would be attacked or something. Now vampires and werewolves have become the victims of fiction books and awful movies. Like Twilight. That's because of the secret societies around the world like the one I'm in."

"Sweet."

"Speaking of which, I just rented all the good old vampire movies like _Dracula_ and _Nosferatu_. Want to watch them with me?"

"Of course!"

They left the cemetery to go back and watch _Dracula_, leaving the lonely tombstones and their conversation behind.

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After the first decent night's sleep in a few nights, Lyra woke up refreshed and for once that week, ready and excited to go to school. She hurriedly put on some acid wash maroon skinny jeans with a black bodice with thin and horizontal maroon strips. She pulled on her boots and leather jacket as she was scrambling out the door. And then she remembered she had only made up with one friend, not both. Shit.

She had no idea what Jason was thinking. Not that she ever did before, but this was kind of an important subject. What was keeping him from 'getting over it' like Yuna had said, especially when it was so easily for her to do when it should have been him who got over it so fast. She wanted to ask him about it, to tell her she was sorry like she had to Yuna, but still explaining her situation.

Not to mention she had tons of questions for him. Like whose secrets he needed to protect and what had happened in his Lycan life. But school wasn't exactly the place for that conversation, not to mention he might yell at her like he did when he was at the mansion last.

She waited in the cafeteria for her two sophomore friends and tried her best to still look put out when Jason and Yuna entered the cafeteria. But even when Steve and Kida came and sat down, she was still distracted.

Yuna looked like she was still talking casually to him when all of a sudden his head snapped up and he looked at Lyra. She gave a meek little smile in return. He looked back to Yuna with wide eyes, his face contorted in a livid expression. Lyra tuned in on their conversation with her extra hearing.

"Why would you do that without telling me?" Jason was asking.

"Because, whether you like it or not, I got over it! She's still my friend it was just 'spur-of-the-moment' anger 'cause of the situation. Seriously, if I can get over it than you can too; you're the one who should be understanding, not me." Lyra was thankful to Yuna for that; that was exactly what she had thought.

"And why is that?"

"Gee, I don't know, maybe because you can 'relate' better!" she emphasized relate with little air quotes.

"So? I have my reasons just like you have yours. Deal with it."

"All I'm saying is that you really hurt her. She didn't know about you because of that chain and vice versa. She can't help it like you can and she really misses you. You two had a different kind of relationship than her and I did right?"

Jason looked away from her, and even Lyra could see the blush on his face. He looked up at her with his piercing eyes and she looked away with a blush of her own. But from that one look she could tell he wasn't going to forgive her easily.

"At least give her a chance. You were friends before right? You can be friends again. It might take a little work, but she's definitely willing to try. Please? I don't want to be pulled in two directions by my two best friends just because you don't want to give it an effort."

Jason seemed stumped by this plead. His face seemed torn between guilt and stubborn anger. The guilt seemed to be winning.

"What am I supposed to do then huh? Just go up to her and ask if we can be friends. I don't think that would go over well."

"Well, I can probably talk her into seeing you or something. Just trust me; she misses you even more than she missed me. You're probably the first boyfriend she's had in a hundred years." She said jokingly. Lyra grimaced; it was more like the first boyfriend ever.

"Fine." He snapped as the 5 minute bell rang. As he walked away Yuna gave her a thumb's up.

Now all she had to do was bear the torture of waiting for him to show up at her door.

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"Dammit!" Lyra hissed. She rushed over to the sink and yanked off her gloves, to scrub the silver nitrate off her arm.

Ever since she had invented silver nitrate bullets to kill Lycans that threatened their secrecy, Alex had been ecstatic and demanding more and more. She must have made a thousand rounds ever since then. When he started to get annoying about it, she kindly reminded him that she had made radiated bullets for vampires, like sunshine right into their veins. He backed off a little after that.

She turned back to her molds. She had the casings done, now all she had to do was fill them. But since silver was her weakness as a Lycan, it wasn't so easy. She grabbed her little syringe and injected 3 cc's of silver nitrate into each case, taking care not to go to fast and squirt herself again.

But she did again when she heard a knock on the door. Another hiss escaped her lips and she answered the door with a scowl and wet arm. For once she was a little unhappy to see Yuna because she knew she was probably going to be bombarded with more questions. But she stopped cold when she saw her other friend with her.

Jason looked up from the ground when she opened the door and she forgot all about her stinging arm. He looked like he wanted to look at her but was too…embarrassed or guilt-ridden to stare for long. He only managed a glance.

"Hey. What are you guys doing here?" Nervousness colored her voice.

"We just wanted to hang out or something. Is that okay? I hope you're not busy…"

"A little, but I can clean up. Uh…you can wait up in my room if you want. I assume you know the way," she said jokingly, trying to lighten the dark mood Jason was creating. Yuna smiled widely and walked right in, practically dragging Jason along. They sauntered up to her room and she ran back in to finish washing off her arm and hurry up filling the casings.

With her excitement, it took longer than she thought and her hands started shaking from frustration. She slammed her hands down on the counter top.

"Need some help?"

Lyra whipped around to see Jason leaning against the kitchen door frame, with his arms crossed and a blank face.

"Uh…um, well I don't think that would be the best idea…"

"What is that?" he asked and walked over. Seeing the silver liquid on the counter he touched it and yanked his hand back when it burned him. "Shit!" he held his hand and ran it under the water, glaring at her. "Silver?" she nodded. "Ah. Why the hell do you have _silver_ in your _kitchen_?"

"Bullets."

"Ah. Bullets. Right."

"It's, I mean they're for Alex. You know, for killing Lycans who get in the way. They used to be able to dig the bullets made of silver out, but with these there's nothing to dig out, it goes right into the blood stream." She said proudly, pleased with her latest work. But when she saw the distrusting look on Jason's face she quickly tried to rephrase. "I mean, not for killing _all_ Lycans, just for ones that aren't careful and spill the secret, endangering humans and other immortals, stuff like that…there's bullets for vampires too." she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the kitchen and downstairs. "See." She pointed to the tray of finished ultra-violet ammunition on her works men table.

"So that's what you do. You go around killing vampires and Lycans because this 'Alex' tells you to?"

"It's not _just_ because he orders me to, but yes. I'll admit it's not the best way to make a living—"

"You're killing people!"

"No, I'm killing things that are killing people! I don't go around killing any vampire or Lycan I see, just the ones that make trouble! I don't like to do it, but since I'm good at it, I'd rather do it that have somebody else have that burden! That's _one_ of the things that I wanted to tell you, but you never gave me the chance."

"…Does Yuna know?"

"Yes, she wouldn't leave me alone about it. It was a little disturbing how into it she was."

"She does have strange interests. She wouldn't stop asking me questions when she first found out."

Lyra smiled at that. It may be strange, but at least they had something else in common.

"Yuna's Yuna. Speaking of which we should probably get back to her before she thinks something's up."

"Yeah."

"I'll be up in a minute, I gotta go clean up." She led Jason back upstairs and ran into the kitchen while he went back up to her room. She could hear Yuna ask where they had been and smiled at the girl's constant curiosity as she cleaned up. They were alike in other ways besides their clothes.

"So what did you come here to do?" she asked Yuna with a grin when she made it up to the tower.

"Well, to be honest I need a little help with my paper. We haven't really been working together ever since…you know, so I'm a little desperate."

"No problamo."

"Got any root beer?" she asked randomly.

"It wouldn't be home without it."

They drank their root beers and wrote their papers, chit chatting like there had never been any problem. At least that's what Yuna and Lyra did; Jason just sat in her bean bag chair in the corner, going through his own paper, which he apparently had already finished.

Then after a few hours of hanging out and talking, they left. More like he left and Yuna followed. Lyra was very miffed; Yuna had brought Jason here so they could try to make up, but all that seemed to happen was more growing apart. And now that he knew how she made a living, he seemed to hate her more than before!

Lyra jumped when her cellphone started vibrating loudly on her dresser. It was Yuna.

"Hello?" she asked sadly.

"Hey, I'm sorry that tonight didn't go so well. Jason's been sulky and quiet the whole night, what the heck did you tell him?"

"Well…when you guys came over I was making some things that I use for _job_, and he found out about what I do and got all made, seeing as I…get rid of _anything_ that stirs up a fuss, including other Lycans. He wasn't so thrilled about that."

"Oh…well that's a stupid reason to be upset, he's done that before." Lyra was stunned at that.

"What? You mean he's killed other Lycans before?"

"Of course. Back before he met Lilith and Claude or me, he would roam around by himself and kill anything that was hurting someone, even if they hadn't 'stirred up a fuss' or threatened him. He would kill vampires he found stealing from the hospital blood banks, and that was just for something to do."

"Really? That's interesting. Hey Yuna, I'm going to have to call you back…"

"Uh-oh, what's going on?"

"Nothing. Just going to have a little chat with Jason."

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Lyra stood in front of Jason's house, shrouded in shadows from the night sky and the trees surrounding her. She could hear the bustling of his parents; one taking care of a crying baby and the other doing the dishes. But Jason wasn't there.

Dammit. Now her whole plan was ruined. She had just wanted to go and tell him he was a hypocrite and had no grounds whatsoever to be mad at her when he had done worse. She was trying to save people with her deadly actions, whereas he was just trying to sate his boredom.

Lights flashed down the driveway and she crouched down behind a bush and tree truck, balancing on the balls of her leather-clad feet, one hand on the ground. Jason got out of a blue SUV, slamming the door hard and loud. Well, at least she knew he could drive.

She watched him with the eyes of a predator as he stepped into his house, Lilith scolding him immediately for shutting the car door so loudly and scaring Ebony and Keyara. He deftly apologized and slugged around the house.

This was her chance. She slunk out from behind the tree, ran, jumped up and off of a tree stump and onto Jason's metal terrace outside his room silently.

It was time for a little heart-to-heart chat.

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Okay, I know, Jason's being a dick, but that will all be explained in the next chapter. You all got a little see-see into Lyra's mind and how she feels about her life, the classic self-hate yet the love of immortal life. At least she's not an exact replica of a Twilight vampire. Ugh, gag me if that ever happens! Jason of the other hand, that's a different story.

Review!

-cally (^o^)

P.S- For all you Twilight lovers out there, I've recently started writing an EdwardxOC story of mine, so if you're interested go to my profile and check it out! :D


	22. Story of a Boy

Finally! Another chapter in Jason's POV! Now we will finally be able to know what the _hell _is going on in his little noggin of a brain! Just kidding, he actually is smart, trust me ;D

**Summary**: Lyra surprises Jason at his house, and she gets a surprise in return. We find out what his problem is and some of Lyra's personal history.

**DISCLAIMER**: DON'T OWN UNDERWORLD, JUST MY CHARACTERS

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Jason slowly made his way up the stairs to his room. Today had not been a good day. First Lilith woke him up and yelled at him for ignoring Yuna, then Yuna had called and yelled at him for being mean to Lyra, then she came over and dragged him to Lyra's house. It had been awkward, even more so when he found her making _silver nitrate_ bullets of all things. In her _kitchen_.

Footsteps pounding up the stairs behind him made him stop. He turned to see his 'father' looking at him.

"I need to talk to you," he said seriously. Great. Perfect ending to a perfect day.

"What?"

Claude continued past him as he asked, and he sighed and followed his father into his own room.

"What's going on? You've been fighting with Yuna and avoiding Lyra altogether. I thought you liked her and Yuna's your best friend."

"She still is…there's just been some…problems with Lyra that have been bugging me." He took off his jacket and folded it over the back of his computer chair. "Which I don't want to talk about by the way." He added when Claude opened his mouth quizzically. He held up his hands defensively.

"All right. I was just wondering why you've been acting so strange and pouty lately. You've been more moody than Keya! All I wanted to say was they're both your friends and I'm sure you can get past this. They both seem very willing from what Yuna has told me about Lyra but you not so much."

"Do you and her have gossip meetings or something? I swear, you know everything about my life from her before I know it myself!"

"I asked and she told me. Now, get your homework done and go to sleep. Or something like that." He ordered dismissively, leaving and softly closing the door behind him. Jason let his head fall back and sighed.

He grabbed him pajamas and undressed, putting on the comfortable clothes and sitting at his computer. When had he asked for a complicated life? It was already bad enough with being a Lycan and having a way too inquisitive friend on the subject. Now the one girl he had ever liked or felt attracted too was a Lycan as well. That was probably best, he hated to admit, but still. Life was so unfair at the worst of times.

Suddenly a chill went up his back and he felt the tiniest of breezes against his neck. He got up and turned around, looking across his room. He closet door was slightly ajar.

Walking over to close it, he peeked inside, expecting a strawberry blonde head to be poking out between his clothes. But all he saw was hangers and folded pants.

"Natasha?" he called quietly. When nothing answered, he shut the door. Then there was a familiar presence behind him and he turned around to see a Goth girl standing in front of his now open terrace door.

"Not exactly." She purred. "Nice pj's."

"…Did you seriously just watch me undress from my _closet_? Now who's breaking into who's house?"

"At least I didn't steal anything. Unless you count a peek," she whispered shamelessly with a smirk. He however didn't find it funny and tried to hide his embarrassment.

"What are you doing here?" he sneered, looking away from her to hide his blushing cheeks.

"I just came to tell you you're a hypocrite." She said casually, as if what that wasn't the least bit insulting.

"Excuse me? Since when am I a hypocrite?"

"Since Yuna told me about your extracurricular activities before you found your little family."

"What?"

"She told me about what you did when you got bored. How you killed anything supernatural you found, even if they weren't doing anything wrong. Even if they were trying to survive with_out_ killing humans." Jason just stared at her. Yuna really couldn't keep her mouth shut!

"So what? That was before."

"_Before_? Who cares! You insulted me and acted like I was murdering babies when I told you what I do! And then all along you were doing worse! So what if it wasn't at the same time, but you still did it and without a good reason, boredom being your sorry excuse. I do it so I can protect people, not to have something to do!"

"At least I don't make a _living_ off of it! That's the most shameless way to get money: killing your own kind! Besides, I _never _killed another Lycan, just vampires. It's in my nature to hate them anyway and this way I had some place to channel that!" he reminded himself to keep his voice down, hearing Lilith ask her husband what was wrong with her son. "Besides, what do you care about humans?" he sneered, half to himself.

But when he didn't hear the snooty remark he was bound to get, he looked at her to find her gawking at him like he had two heads.

"That is probably the most stupid thing you have ever said! Of course I care about humans! I care about their lives; I cared about Yuna and you before I found out you're like me and I still care about both of you!" she put her hand over her mouth like she didn't meant to say that.

Jason was stunned at her confession. She obviously still wanted to be friends, perhaps even more like they had been, but when she came here just to call him a hypocrite he thought that was gone. He admitted he still cared about her, but he was just angry about something and he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Well. Now that I've said what I wanted to, I guess I'll just be going," she declared sullenly. She had probably been hoping that by confessing her feelings he would do the same, but since he was quiet decided to ditch before things got awkward. She started heading for the terrace when he called for her.

"Wait," he said. "I still…like you as a friend, I just…I don't know I'm just angry."

"About what?"

"That's why I said I don't know!" he snapped. He regretted it when hurt crossed her features.

"…Why do you hate me so much? I don't understand how…when I met Jalis and my sisters I was happy I finally found someone else like me, that I wasn't alone. I thought you might be happy too; I've had human friends before but I've had to leave because I don't age and they would notice. I was sad because I knew they would die of old age and I wouldn't. I thought you would be the same because that's how every other vampire or Lycan I've met has said. So why do you hate me so much now that you know I won't leave like others would have?"

"I don't hate you," he said after a minute of being quiet. He had almost painful look on his face, like he was confessing to something top secret. "I thought I would. But I don't. I guess that's why I'm mad. Why do you have to be so different?" he was talking to himself now.

"What do you mean you 'thought you would hate me'?" he paused for another few minutes and she almost thought he wasn't going to answer.

"…To put it bluntly, I hate being what I am." He turned back to face her now. Her face was surprised at his sudden, and _very_ blunt, statement. "And I hate everything else like me. I wish I would have died with my family in Greece, but I didn't and now I go through life in one phase, forever. This world belongs to humans, not monsters like vampires and Lycans and demons. We're just minorities that like to kill humans. That's why I kill every immortal I find. Because they don't belong here. Yet I'm too cowardly to kill myself."

"Just because you don't want to kill yourself doesn't mean you're a coward. I felt that way too at first but then I realized there was so much I could do."

"But I don't feel that way. I was about to do it; kill myself. I'd seen so much that I didn't want to; I remember Columbus going to America, I remember the Chinese invasion in the 11th century. I remember the 1st Olympic Games! Do you know when that was? 776 B.C! I never wanted to see any of that and with this life I was forced to.

"But then I met a certain vampire who told me different. Her name was Katya. She was from Russia, like you. She found me trying to kill myself and stopped me, showing me there was another side to this life I didn't want. She walked me through the process of restraining myself and showed me how to live like I was still human. She was fun and exciting. You remind me of her actually.

"But then she was killed, in 1723 and I was alone again. Her death just added more fuel to my hatred for our kind. I tried to go on by myself and eventually I met Natasha in 1902 and she was like Katya, though more annoyingly eccentric. I spent my whole existence either hating or forgetting what I am; and now I prefer hating. So you can imagine my surprise at myself when I didn't feel what I thought when Yuna told me you're a Lycan as well."

When he looked up at her from shuffling his feet, she was staring at him, her eyes wide and her arms limply crossed. She went and sat on his bed, taking it all in. He breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe that was what was making him so angry with this; and now that he had gotten it off his chest it would be better between them.

"So…you act like you hate me because you hate yourself because you don't hate me?" she asked, almost smiling about it. He just nodded in response and smiled widely, realizing how stupid it did sound. "That doesn't make any sense at all."

"Yeah, I'm getting that," he laughed.

"Now that I know all of this…can we still be friends or do you want to go back to me calling you a hypocrite and you pretending to hate me?" she asked jokingly, though there was a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"Well, I don't think I can handle any more nagging from Yuna or my father, so why not." She smacked his arm.

"Smartass." He just smiled softly at her in return. "I should probably go," she was suddenly holding her phone in her gloved hand. "Jalis is wondering where I am. I was supposed to go out with him and Serena tonight. Wanna come?" she asked unexpectedly.

"Um…well, it's your family so they probably only want one Lycan with them," he teased. She frowned at the word Lycan.

"Whatever. See you tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"'Kay. Sleep tight," she grinned evilly, taking her turn to tease him.

"Now who's being the smartass?"

He watched her as she gracefully jumped off the terrace and ran into the woods, acting like any normal girl the whole time.

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As usual, Jason woke to the sound of his alarm clock blaring and a startled Ebony freaking out, clawing the heck out of the chest she slept on. He cursed and pushed her off while pushing the button on his annoying little clock. He hunched over and combed his fingers through his hair. He felt strangely happy and he didn't know why until he remembered the events of the previous night.

Lyra had come over, snuck in more like it, and called him a hypocrite. He laughed out loud at that; the demeanor of their conversation had changed so quickly, from scathing to sad to joking, all in a matter of minutes. That girl always worked wonders for his mind.

He got out of bed with a smile on his face, showering and dressing in a daze. He got down to the kitchen and started the coffee machine, scooping Ebony up and petting her, already over his morning bout of anger toward the little tabby kitten.

When the coffee was done and he had all his things ready, he bounded out the door, eager to get to school, and almost ran right into the sparkling purple car in front of him. He stopped inches from the hood and looked up. Yuna and Lyra just waved at him, grinning. Surprise, surprise.

"What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like? I decided to give Yuna a break from riding with you today and picked you both up," she said proudly. He ignored the punch in the face to his apparently annoying character. He got in the back with a frown on his face, which they just found amusing.

They chit-chatted all the way to the school, ignoring him completely, which for once he was fine with. He was a little shocked that Lyra would come to pick him up for school when only the previous night they had 'made up'. Sure, they were good now, but he hadn't expected her to just act like nothing ever happened. But then again, she did that with Yuna, so why should their situation be any different?

He didn't notice when she parked and his two friends started telling him to get out and stop zoning off. So Lyra whapped him upside the head.

"Hey!"

"We're here moron, get out before I lock you in."

"I could just get out if you locked me in anyway," he replied coolly and stuck his tongue out childishly. She did the same and Yuna giggled at their immature antics.

People looked at them as usual as they walked in and strode to their lockers, which all happened to be somewhat near each other. Yuna and Lyra were decked out in their normal black on black clothes; the only color was the red on Lyra's death-angel Avenged Sevenfold T-shirt.

They sat at their usual table and Lyra gestured for Steve and Kida to join them, as they had been sitting at a separate table with Lyra the past few days during the big fight. Kida happily bounced over, holding Steve's hand.

"Did you guys finish your papers?" Kida asked. She was in the same level class as them, only with a different teacher, despite her being a year younger. "Lyra told me you were all planning on procrastinating."

"Yep, we finished them last night. Or at least Jason and I did; Yuna is _still _procrastinating."

"Only a little!" the girl defended when Kida and Lyra both gave her reproving looks. Jason just snickered.

"You're reading again!" Steve exclaimed when he saw Jason's book on the architecture of Ancient Egypt. "How do you even remember half the stuff you read?"

"Rereading them," he said simply. They all laughed at that, though Steve looked a little jealous of the overachiever across the table from him.

Jason continued reading his book for a few minutes, tuning out the talking around him. As he was turning a page, he saw Erin and John, his little side kick, looking over at him. Actually, it was more like glaring daggers, because they looked like they wanted to kill the ravenette. Jason looked at them and all of a sudden John's eyes flared up in bright blue, a big contrast from his normal dull gray, just for a split second. When Jason blinked and grabbed the edge of the table, it was gone.

"Are you okay?" Lyra asked, touching his arm. He looked at her and then back at Erin and his friend.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" he grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the table before she could say anything.

"What's wrong?" she asked when he pulled her over to the side of the stairs entering the cafeteria.

"You see John and Erin over there?"

"Yeah, they look even dumber than usual. So what?"

"I just saw them glaring at me and then John's eyes turned blue."

"Blue?"

"Yeah. And they're usually gray."

"I know my colors, thanks."

"Don't you get it? He's been living at Erin's house for a month now, when all of this weird stuff started happening, he's passing up Erin on the football team because he magically got stronger with_out_ steroids and now his eyes are turn bright blue randomly." He hinted.

"…How blue? Your blue?"

"That's not the point! Don't you get it?" he hissed. He looked back at them but this time they weren't staring back. Suddenly Lyra's eyes lit up and her mouth opened in outraged realization.

"You think he's a…"

"Vampire? Yeah. It makes sense. I heard Yuna's parents talking about how Lauren Johnson, the missing girl, had two holes in her neck. And at Erin's party I found a secret room downstairs with Lauren's necklace in it, and blood everywhere. At first I thought it might be Erin who's the vampire, but it looks like it's John."

"This certainly changes things." She said almost to herself.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I thought it was Erin too. His grip is stronger than it should be and he has changed, even in the few months I've been here. Plus, I was going to tell you later, but yesterday we got new info on that case with you vampire friend Natasha in it, and there was a picture of her with Erin in the background. I don't know if they know each other or what, but I thought that was too much of a coincidence."

"Maybe…we'll have to keep an eye on them until we figure it out."

"You mean _spy _on _Erin_. Gross!" she exclaimed. It was like she was more repulsed by him than the fact that he could be a vampire killing people. "That is not how I pictured my nights."

"Well, think about it. Both of them are suspicious and everything we thought Erin did John could have done too. Plus, it's Thanksgiving break tomorrow until next Monday, so we have plenty of time."

"So? Hey wait a minute!" her face suddenly growing outraged. "You found a room full of _blood_? In Erin's basement? Why the hell didn't you tell me this sooner, it could totally help figure this whole mess out!" she screeched in a whisper.

"I was going to tell you later," he mocked. She narrowed her eyes and her lips scrunched up in a scrutinizing glare.

"Whatever. Are you seriously serious though? I actually had plans over break and now I have to babysit the biggest moronic douche-bag I have ever met! That sucks ass!" Jason smirked at her choice of insults and she just glared at him even more.

"Well, if we don't want any more people to get hurt, than it's a small sacrifice. Isn't that your motto or something?"

"I guess…should we tell Yuna? What about my siblings, they could definitely help. Well, maybe not Serena, but Evain and Jalis would."

"Do whatever you want; but I'm going to watch them the whole time, I don't like all this crap going on when Keya is only a few months old." Lyra looked at him shocked. "I care about my sister all right, is that so wrong?" he asked defensively. Lyra just smiled and laughed, walking back to their table.

Jason looked back at John and Erin, who were watching Lyra walk too. Then, like in some creepy horror film, they both looked back at him at the same time. He glared at them and followed his friend back to the group.

Something was going on, something that Natasha wasn't telling him. He wasn't going to lose his friends again like he had Katya. And he wasn't going to lose his family either, like when he was human. He was going to get to the bottom of the mess.

At least now he and another Lycan on his side.

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Yay, it's done. I stopped writing this chapter then started it again, with a span of around 2 months in between. Sorry guys, I'm kind of erratic with my writing schedule…

And I only have about 1.5 or 2 chapters done after this so I will update when I'm 3 or 4 ahead. And that might take a while since I've been writing a chapter per night or two for my Twilight (EdwarxOC) story and it's getting a good response. Check it out if you're a fan!

R&R

-cally (^o^)


	23. Truth

**Author's Note/Summary**: Now that a lot of backgrounds and discoveries have happened, not to mention the kind-of-renewed friendships, the events-plot will start now that we're pretty much over the people-plot. Does that make sense? I hope so…

**Rating**: This chapter is pretty intense in the beginning and end, so it's getting into the stuff that's rated T. In fact for some violence later on I might have to change the story to M.

**DISCLAIMER**: I DON'T OWN UNDERWORLD, BUT I'M DYING TO SEE THE NEW MOVIE!

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Turkeys suck. Yeah, they suck a lot. All deliciously brown and fresh out of the oven. In this moment, Lyra envied Erin Somer. Over a turkey.

It had been several days since her and Jason had made up, and two days since their Thanksgiving break had started. It was Thanksgiving night, and the Somer's were saying grace, Erin rolling his eyes the whole time. Prick.

His mother had prepared a lavish feast, including that damn good-looking turkey, for her family, though Lyra didn't understand why. The two Somer men dug in like pigs, Erin's mom just looking at them in a 'what the hell kind of karma do I have?' kind of way. Lyra almost felt bad for her. Almost, seeing as with all the spying she had done lately she had seen Mrs. Somer's 'visitors' during the day when her family and husband weren't home. Humans were disgusting these days.

Lyra was hunched in the top branches of a tree about a hundred-twenty yards from their house, looking in through a high window so they wouldn't see her. She could on the other hand could see them perfectly with her violet eyes. She held a notepad, pencil and binoculars, in case she had to get farther away.

Lately, what with her and Jason's suspicions, both of them had been 'surveying' the Somer house. Since they were pretty sure he had something to do with Natasha and her gang, because they had found her notepad and the bloody basement, they knew something wasn't right and had to figure it out. For Lyra it was her job, while for Jason it was curiosity, but they worked together.

Right now it was Lyra's 'shift' and she was really hoping the rain the sky was threatening wouldn't spill because then she couldn't write stuff down and she would be miserable. So far they hadn't seen anything supernaturally worrisome. Thought they had found out about Mrs. Somer's infidelity, Mr. Somer's business scam and Erin's quite active self-pleasuring periods. What was wrong with this family?

"Money, that's what," Lyra muttered to herself. She continued watching the Somer's eat, doodling on her notepad every once and a while. Then her phone vibrated in her pocket.

"Nothin' to report chief," she said into the speaker. She knew it was Jason calling.

"Ha ha." He retorted sarcastically. "Well I haven't found anything out myself, but I've been thinking that we need to get inside that house again. I'd like to get a blood sample of the blood down stairs so we can test it. Your friend Alex should be able to do that right?"

"Yeah I guess. But getting inside is easier said than done; if a Somer or two leaves, one always stays. Usually it's Erin, and if he's a vampire then he would most likely hear us, even though he would be new." Vampire hearing took a long time to adjust and the hearing range increased only over time.

"Yeah I figured. I was thinking-" he started but at that moment Lyra stopped listening. Because at that moment a car drove up and a strawberry blonde stepped out, wearing skanky, vibrant clothes.

"Jay, shut up for a sec!" she hissed into the receiver as her eyes followed the woman up to the door. The chick knocked twice and waited patiently. Erin jumped up, grabbed his coat and just walked out the door, leaving his father still stuffing his face and his mother with a dreary expression. Poor, unvirtuous woman.

They ran to her car like excited teenagers and peeled out of the driveway at 50 mile an hour. Lyra looked back to see Mr. Somer throw his napkin down on his plate, shove it forward, push his chair back and lumber out the door with his briefcase. Mrs. Somer just picked up the plates, put them in the sink and left the food out on the table while grabbing her purse and going out. What the hell?

"Uh…Lyra? Are you still there?"

"Get over here ASAP Jay."

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"Are you sure this is all right?" Jason asked uncertainly as Lyra picked the lock to the back door.

"Don't worry; we should have at least enough time to get those samples you wanted. By the way, I called Jalis and gave him your friend's plate number so he could tag and follow." She added.

"What? Who?"

"Don't be such a dimwit," she jibbed as she pushed open the door with a triumphant smile. "Your friend Natasha came and got Erin and his parents left after. Now we know it probably wasn't a coincidence he was in that picture with her. Jalis is following them." She explained.

"Oh. Good. I can't believe she's even involved in this. I haven't always trusted her and I know she can be dangerous if she wants to, but this just isn't her. She hates to get her hands dirty, even if it's revenge or something…"

"Well, that's probably why she's turned Erin and John into her little helper monkeys. Someone was in the back seat when she pulled up, it might have been Thing 2."

"Maybe. Let's just hurry up and get out, I don't want to take any chances. If Erin can't smell us then Natasha can if she comes in."

"'Kay. Show me this room, and then we can look for more stuff if they don't come home."

Jason led her down the stairs and through the basement, stopping at the door to the blood filled room. The scent was stronger now.

"God!" Lyra exclaimed. "If this is what it smells like out _here_…there must have been so many lives ended…" she said from behind her hand. Jason opened the door and walked to the room. There wasn't a body, but more blood than before. There was also new spatter patterns on the walls and ceiling, so obviously whoever was doing this was devolving into chaos from thirst, if it was a vampire's work.

"This is awful," Lyra said as she pulled out some swabs from the bags Jason had brought and rubbed them in the dirt. She took a pocket knife from a strap inside her boot (which she got a weird look for) and scraped some more bigger samples into the little baggies. "There, that should be enough from this spot. Let's get all around so we can see just how many people Erin's done away with. This couldn't have been from just one person."

They swabbed the room and covered up all the marks and tracks they had left and they went back upstairs. None of the Somers were home and there wasn't a car for miles down either direction of the road the mansion was on.

"Come on, let's go upstairs to see if there's anything else." Jason gave her a reluctant look but obliged. They searched all the rooms quickly but thoroughly; most of them on the second floor were guest rooms, bathrooms or studies of some sort. There were no weird books, and they doubted they were missing anything.

Jason took Erin's parents room and Lyra took Erin's. She had to fight back the urge to destroy it again and to gag because of all the playboy's and condoms she found in the drawers. Somer was a horn dog.

Then she found what she was looking for.

When she looked in Erin's closet, making sure not to move anything in a noticeable way, she found a safe embedded into the wall behind his closet. She leaned against the cold metal door and listened to the ticks that revealed the combination. Opening the safe, she saw wads of hundred dollar bills, Somer's social security and back up license with insurance and some random objects that must have been heirlooms or special trinkets.

But there was one oddity; a book. It was old and leather bound, way bigger and thicker than books these days. She pulled it out and blew the dust off so there wouldn't be discernible fingerprints from her. She pulled it out and sat on the floor, undoing the string that bound it closed.

The yellow pages crinkled as she rifled through them. It was in Latin and looked rather suspicious from what the author was talking about. It was a history book, but on the history and ancestry of demons, beasts like vampires and Lycans. She read a few pages, engrossed before she heard Jason walking down the hallway. He opened the door to find her still on the floor.

"What's that?"

"Some book I found in that safe," she said neutrally and pointed to the open contraption in the closet. Jason crouched down next to her and read some too, his eyes bugging wide when he read a few words.

"Does this mean-"

"Probably, but we can't be sure until we've seen Somer do something. I'm guessing he's involved with whatever the hell Natasha is up to, and that it has something to do with the feud between our species." She closed the book and took out a piece of paper, writing down the year and author of the book and a short description. She could most likely find it in Alex's archives.

"We should go." Jason whispered. A car was coming down the road to the mansion, about a mile away, coming from the city. They had been here for an hour already.

Lyra put the book back in the safe, closed the door, turned the dial to the number it had been on before and rearranged the clothes to make it look like somebody hadn't been ruffling through the closet.

They rushed down the stairs and were headed for the back, when Lyra stopped.

"What are you doing, come on!" Jason hissed.

"Hold on a sec!" Lyra bounced over to the dining table, took off a small piece of the cold turkey and dipped it in this pretty good looking honey glaze sauce. "Man that's good!" she exclaimed. She turned to see Jason starting at her with a disbelieving look. "What? Dude, I had to stare at that thing all damn day, I had to taste it!...We can go now." She added and rushed past him awkwardly, embarrassed.

Just as they were flying out the back door and relocking it, a car pulled into the driveway. They jumped up into the trees to find that it was just Mrs. Somer back with one of her secret lovers. God, that woman!

"Let's go."

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Lyra walked straight in to Hoften Law, greeting the secretary that seemed to be different every time she was there. Jason was still in the doorway, gaping at the size and class of the building.

"Come on," Lyra whined as she turned to face him, halfway down the hall. "You won't be able to get in if you're not with me." Jason trudged forward and kept on staring around, like he had never been inside a modern building before. Alex was very chic when it came to style, but it wasn't that grand…

Lyra led Jason to the large archives, a room filled with metal filing cabinets and book shelves. She looked at the authors name and the year and walked down the aisles, looking up at the shelves of books. They were categorized by year then by author.

"Geez, how big is this place? I thought your friend owned a law firm, not part of the military!" Jason exclaimed from his position at the door.

"Well, Alex is a greedy bastard. He makes extra money from all the secret business stuff; gives most of it to charity to make himself look good. He may be a shallow, self-centered ass who happens to be dating my sister, but he still has his uses. Ah ha!" she cried as she found the book. She started to jump so she could reach it, but a long arm beat her to it. Jason handed her the book with a tiny smile.

"Here."

"Thanks," she mumbled, her face flushing. Just because they were just friends now doesn't mean she could forget the short little relationship they had tried to start before, or her feelings for him.

"You're welcome," he replied, equally mystified. They stood in silence for a minute before Lyra perked up and rushed them out, jotting down what book they were taking in the log.

As they marched through the hallways, impressed with themselves, they passed Alex's office right as he stepped out. His eyes widened when he saw Lyra, then narrowed when he saw Jason.

"Lyra." He greeted curtly. "What are you doing here?" As in: why the hell is he here?

"We found something that might help with that whole vampire gang thing, so we came to get it."

"A book? How is a musty old book going to help you?"

"It might it might not, but it's pretty much our only lead right now, so I'll get back to you on that." She said and patted his chest twice in a friendly gesture. She turned to leave but didn't miss the heated glance Jason and him shared. Great.

The ride home was silent, except for the dull roar of the music she had on playing in the background. It wasn't awkward, they just didn't feel like saying anything. They walked into Lyra's empty house and headed up to her room where they just looked things up and studied the case.

There were a few peculiar things written in the book, but other than the fact that it was a history book about the vampire-Lycan war, she couldn't see how it would be very beneficial to Natasha and Erin.

"Find anything?" Jason asked after a while, when it had gotten awkward.

"Nope. I keep hoping that this book will explain something or point to any clues, but so far it's been pretty much useless! What the hell was Erin doing with this book anyways?" she pouted, slamming the book closed and tossing it onto her mattress.

"I honestly don't know. Maybe we should take a break, go see Yuna or something. I know she's been dying to see you again." He said gently.

"Fine," she replied, rubbing her temples lightly. She looked up and could tell from Jason's expression it was obvious how tired she was. All this spying, plotting and researching was wearing her out.

"Good, you could use it," he offered her his hand and pulled her up, leading them out of the house into the fresh air.

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The time they spent at Yuna's house was fun. Lyra had never been to her house before except when she had picked her up to go shopping. It was very modern inside; neutral colored walls with neutral woods and carpets. Potted plants and little knick-knacks were on tables, like in a model house with accented towels everywhere.

Yuna's room was much like hers except it was darker and gloomier. Yuna had gone all out with the dark colors with different colored lights. It was pretty cool.

They watched a movie, chatted and ate popcorn before they ate dinner. Yuna's dad was staring at her again the whole time, but a glare from Georgia and Jason made him stop. Lyra was relieved that Jason was still a little protective of her.

When they parted, Jason awkwardly wished her a good night's sleep after she dropped him off. They said their goodbyes and Lyra sped home, only vaguely aware of her surroundings outside the car. She was lucky she didn't run over a squirrel or something.

She fell asleep almost instantly when she fell on her bed, still fully clothed. She woke up, her outfit stiff from having been slept in and took a shower. Today was the last week-day before the weekend, after which school would start up again.

"Lyra please, go back to bed," Jalis whined when she stumbled her way downstairs for breakfast. "I know you want to finish this case, but you can't do it in a few days, so give it a rest for a while. You're wearing yourself down."

"I know, I know. I'm just going to relax today, or try to. We found something yesterday, even though it wasn't very helpful, so I'm just giving up for a day or two."

"Good," he said with a triumphant smile and headed up to his room, where the sound of video games followed. Lyra hadn't realized how late it was.

Going back up to her own room, she got out of her pajamas to put on some comfy sweats are a t-shirt instead. She leaned her head back against the wall behind her mattress and closed her eyes, day dreaming for a while. It helped her relax for a bit, but after 10 or 15 minutes, the case crept back into her mind and she let out a frustrated whine.

Tiredly, she opened her eyes and leaned forward to get up when she looked at her dresser. She squinted her eyes and tilted her head to the side as an idea came to her.

The room. The secret room below their house had lots of books like the one they had gotten from the archives. She had hardly looked at them, and now that she thought about it, those ramblings they had found in Latin sounded pretty legit after she had found that tunnel out in the woods.

Carefully, she got up quietly, so Jalis would think she was still lying on her bed and grabbed the key off the top of her dresser. She shifted it with little noise and listened for any signs that Jalis might come barging in or had noticed. None.

She inserted the key and turned it slowly so the hinges wouldn't squeak. She needed to get some oil for those things. She opened it and then shut it, hoping Jalis wouldn't come into her room and see her moved dresser.

Instead of using the stairs, she jumped off above the landing railing and sailed down past all the spiral stair cases, falling for only about 20 seconds. She landed quietly and immediately lit the lights up and searched through the notes on the desk and through the book cases. Nothing caught her eye, and she slumped down in defeat.

She heard a meow behind her and turned to see the cat sitting atop the desk licking its paw. It stopped at stared at her before continuing and she walked over to pet it. It jumped down and sat on the chair, pawing at the top drawer.

Cautiously, Lyra opened the drawer to find more old papers and tons of dried herbs in little bags. Some of the things looked repulsive, like a chicken foot and the gnarled roots tied to each other. She picked it up with a look of disgust until she realized what it meant. This was for a spell.

What the hell? That creepy old man who had lived here knew spells? Or was he just some bogus freak who liked the supernatural? She rifled through the drawer more and found a spell book, more ingredients and more papers. One in particular caught her eye.

She picked it up and gasped. It was a drawing of the cave in the woods that she had found, only there were people around, carving into the stones and building the door. It said _Antiquus Bestia_ in fancy writing. The' Ancient Beast' in Latin. Oh joy.

She flipped the page over and saw more scribbling's though it didn't match the handwriting of the old man. There was a drawing of a Lycan, but it was of one she had never seen before. It was far larger than any Lycan she had ever seen, it even rivaled herself in wolf-form size. Its claws and fangs were dripping with a black liquid, probably blood, and it was killing hoards of vampires and humans alike. Then it showed a coffin of sorts, with chains and hooks inside. There was an arrow pointed to the next picture which showed the same coffin but with the Lycan inside_. _Under the pictures it said_: __Post multos occidere homines __B__estiae, tandem capta et reconditum, quo neminem invenies illum; '_After killing many humans, the Beast was finally captured and stored away, where no one would find it again'.

That was when Lyra started hyperventilating. Now it all made sense!

That tunnel she had found was where that thing was being held. They had caged it away, and it was most likely decimated by now. That was what she felt in the cave. When she had felt that strange breeze that felt like breathe, it really had been breathing. One of the oldest Lycans was stored down there, in her back yard, seven miles away from where a civilization had sprung up. If that thing ever got loose…the town would be destroyed.

Oh God, what was she supposed to do?

The builders obviously hadn't thought about the future, and had just stored it away, hoping no one would find it in their haste to restrain the beast. If that forest was ever cut down and workers found that thing and let it out, it would take hundreds of Lycans if not more to take it down.

She put that paper down on the desk and anxiously started ruffling through the others. There had to be something in here that had more information than that. She found a journal that matched the handwriting of the old man and started reading through it. She stopped when she skimmed over the date March 27th, 1929.

_It happened again. I heard the rumblings of that beast in the air. I am expected to watch out for this town, to make sure that_ thing_ never gets out, but I am unsure of myself. I am only eighteen years old and already I have been placed with this burden. I have to watch over that thing and watch over the entire population of Guiden, to protect them. What am I ever supposed to do if it gets out?_

The handwriting was hard to read, but the gist of it was Bastian Atrius was the keeper of the dungeon in the woods. He knew about that thing since he was at least 18 years old and she had to talk to him, _now_.

She had to summon the dead.

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Now that more of the plot is coming to light, the chapters will start to make sense and start to tie things together. I'm hoping to have this story wrapped up within the next 7 or eight chapters (so it'll be around 30 chapters long total) so there won't be as much filler anymore.

REVIEW!

-cally (^o^)

**6/28/12 Update**: I've created a poll for you guys to vote on a new story idea I have, so please visit my profile page and let me know what you think! :D


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